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WJ L 




FRANCE ANB-^T^aL"ANl3 



NORTH AMERICA. 



A SERIES OF HISTORICAL NARRATIVES. 



FRANCIS PARKMAN, 

AUTHOR OF "lIISTOnY OF TIIK COXSnUACY OF rOXTIAC," " PRAIRIE ANB 
ROCKY 5IOUXTAIX LIFE," ETC. 




BOSTON: 
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 

1874. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869. by 

Francis Paukman, 

ji the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of MassachnsettE 



cambbidgb: 
pkkss of john wilson and sot., 4w^' 



THB 



DISCOVERY 



GREAT WEST. 



\ 



^ 



^ 



FRANCIS PARKMAN, 



AnTHOK OF " PIONEERS OF FRANCE IN THE NEW WOKLD," AND " THB 
JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA." 




BOSTON: 
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 

1874. 



TTo36 



Wintered according to Act of Conj^ress, in the year 1869, by 

Frakcis Parkmatt, 

In tho Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of MassachnGetts. 









^ 






/ 



/ r 



TO THE CLASS OF 1844, 

HAEVAKD COLLEGE, 

THIS BOOK IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED 

BY ONE OF THEIR NUMBER. 



^f. 



PREFACE. 



The discovery of the " Great West," or the 
valleys of the Mississippi and the Lakes, is a por- 
tion of our history hitherto very obscure. Those 
magnificent regions were revealed to the world 
through a series of daring enterprises, of Avhich 
the motives and even the incidents have been 
but partially and superficially known. The chief 
actor in them wrote much, but printed nothing ; 
and the published writings of his associates stand 
wofuUy in need of interpretation from the un- 
published documents which exist, but which have 
not heretofore been used as material for history. 

This volume attempts to supply the defect. Of 
the large amount of wholly new material employed 
in it, by far the greater part is drawn from the 
various public archives of France, and the rest 
from private sources. The discovery of many of 



viii TREFACE. 

these documents is due to the mdefatigable re- 
search of M. Pierre Margry, assistant custodian of 
the Archives of the jNIarine and Colonies at Paris, 
whose hibors as an investigator of the maritime and 
colonial history of France can be appreciated only 
by those who have seen their results. In the de- 
partment of American colonial history, these results 
have been mvaluable ; for, besides several private 
collections made by him, he rendered important 
service in the collection of the French portion of 
the Brodhead documents, selected and arranged the 
two great series of colonial papers ordered by the 
Canadian government, and prepared, with vast 
labor, analytical indexes of these and of supple- 
mentary documents in the French archives, as well 
as a copious index of the mass of papers relating 
to Louisiana. It is to be hoped that the valuable 
publications on the maritime history of France 
which have appeared from his pen are an earnest 
of more extended contributions in future. 

The late President Sparks, some time after the 
publication of his life of La Salle, caused a col- 
lection to be made cf documents relatiu"- to that 
explorer, with the intention of incorporating them 
in a future edition. This intention was never carried 
into effect, and the documents were never used. 
With the liberality which always distinguished 



PREFACE. IX 

him, he placed them at my disposal, and this privi- 
lege has been kindly contmued by Mrs. Sparks. 

Abbe Faillon, the learned anthor of " La Colonic 
Franr;aisc en Canada," has sent me copies of vari- 
ous documents found by him, including family 
papers of La Salle. Among others who in various 
ways have aided my inquiries, are Dr. John Paul, 
of Ottawa, 111. ; Count Adolphe de Circourt and 
M. Jules Marcou, of Paris ; M. A. Gerin Lajoie, 
Assistant Librarian of the Canadian Parliament; 
M. J. M. Le Moine, of Quebec ; General Dix, 
Minister of the United States at the Court of 
France; O. IL Marshall, of Buffalo.; J. G. Shea, 
of New York ; Buckingham Smith, of St. Augus- 
tine ; and Colonel Thomas Aspinwall, of Boston. 

The map contained in the book is a portion of 
the great manuscript map of Franquelin, of which 
an account will be found in the Appendix. 

The next volume of the series will be devoted 
to the efforts of Monarchy and Feudalism under 
Louis XIV. to establish a permanent .power on 
this continent, and to the stormy career of Louis 
de Buade, Count of Frontenac. 

BosTOX, IG September, 18G9. 



CONTENTS. 



brTBODUcnos xix 

CHAPTER L 

1C43-1G69. 

cavelien de la salle. 

Paqb 

The Youth of La Salle. — His Connection with the Jesuits. — He goes to 
Canada. — His Ciiancter. — His Schemes. — His Seigniory at La 
Chine. — Ills Expedition in Search of a AVestern Passage to India. . 1 

CHAPTER IL 

1GC9-1G7L 

La SALLE AND THE SULriTIANS. 

The Fxench in Western New York. — Louis .Toliet. — The Sulpitians on 
Lake Erie. — At Detroit. — .\t Saut Ste. Marie. — The l^Iysterj' cf La 
Salle. — Tie discovers the Ohio. — He descends the Illinois. — Did he 
reach the Mississippi ? 12 

CHAPTER III. 

1G70-1G72. 

THE JESUITS OX THE LAKES. 

The Old Jlissions and the Xew. — .V Change of Spirit. — Lake Superior 
and the Copper Mines. — Stu. Marie. — L:i Pointe. — Michillnuackinac. 
— Jesuits on Lake Michigan. — .Allouez and Dablon. — The Jesuit 

Fur-Trade 20 

b 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 
1G67-1672. 

FKANCE TAKES TOSSESSION OF IIIE WEST. 

PAoa 

Talon. — St. Lusson. — Pcrrot. — The Ceremony at Saut Ste. Marie. — 

The Speech of AUouez. — Count Frontenac 87 

CHAPTER V. 
1G72-1C75. 

THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

JoIIet sent to find the Mississippi. — Jacques ISIarquette. — Departure. — 
Green Bay. — Tlie Wisconsin. — The Mississippi. — Indians. — Mani- 
tous. — The Aikansas. — The Illinois. — Joliet's Misfortune. — Mar- 
quette at Chicago. — Ilis Ilhiess. — His Death 48 

CHAPTER VI. 

1G73-1G78. 

LA SALLE AXD FEOXTEXAC. 

Objects of La Salle. — His Diflficultics. — Official Corruption in Canada.— 
The Governor of Montreal. — Projects of Frontenac. — Cataraqui. — 
• Frontenac on Lake Ontario. — Fort Frontenac. — Success of La Salle . 78 

CHAPTER VII. 

1G74-1G78. 

LA SALLE AXD THE JESUITS. 

The Abb(5 Fdnelon. — He attacks the Governor. — The Enemies of La 

Salle. —Aims of the Jesuits. — Their Hostility to La Salle .... 92 

CHAPTER VEIL 

1G78. 

PARTY STRIFE. 

La Salle and his Reporter. — Jesuit Ascendancy. — The Missions and the 
Fur-Trade. — Female Inquisitors — I'lots against La Salle. — His 
Brother the Priest. — Intrigues of the Jesuits. — La Salle poisoned. — 
He exculpates the Jesuits. — Renewed Intrigues 101 



CONTENTS. Xai 

CHArTER IX. 

1G77-1G7S. 

TOE CnAXD EXTERrniSC. 

Paob 

La Salic at Fort Frontenac. — La Salle at Court. — His Fics approved. - - 

Henri de Tonty. — Preparation for Departure 114 

CHAPTER X. 

1G7&-1G79. 

LA SALLG AT NIAGAHA. 

Fatner Louis Hennepin. — His Past Life; His Character. — Embarkation. 

— Niagara Falls. — Indian Jealousy. — La Motte and the Senecas. — 

A Disaster. — La Salle and his Followers 119 

CHAPTER XI. 

1G79. 

THE LAUNCH OF THE " GniFFIN." 

The Niagara Portage. — A Ve?sel on the Stocks. — SuflTering and Discon 
tent. — La Salle's Winter Journey. — The Vessel launched. — Fresh 
Disasters 133 

CHAPTER Xn. 
• - 1G79. 

LA SAT.LE ON THE LTPER LAKES. 

Tlie Voyage of tha " Grifiia."— Detroit. — A Storm. — St. Ignace of Mich- 
illimackinac. — Eivals and Fneniics — Lake Michigan. — Hardships. 

— A Threatened Fight. — Fort Miami. — Tonty's Misfortunes. — 
Forebodings 139 

CHAPTER Xni. 

ie7q-icso 

LA SALLE ON THE ILUNOIB. 

The St. Joseph. — Adrenture of La Salle. — The Prairies. — Famine. — 
The Great Town of the Illinois. — Indians. — Intrigues. — Difficulties. 

— Policy of La Salle. — Desertion. — Another Attempt to poison him . 151 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CnAPTEE XIV. 

1G80. 

FOKT CKi;VEC(EUR. 

Pagb 

Bnilding of the Fort. — Lo?s of the " Griffin."— A Bold Resolution.— 
Another Vessel. — Hennepin sent to the Mississippi. — Departure of 
La Salle 16T 

CHAPTER XV. 
1680. 

" . HAKDIHOOD OF LA SALLE. 

The Winter Journey. — The Deserted Town. — Stnn-ed Rock — Lake 
Michigan. — The Wildeniess. — Wnr Parties. — La Salle's Men give 
ont. — 111 Tidings. — Mutiny. — Chastisement of the Mutineers . . 175 

CHAPTER XVI 
1C80. 

DTDIAN CONQUERORS. 

The Enterprise renewed. — Attempt to rescue Tonty. — Buffalo. — A 
Frightful Discover}'. — Iroquois Fmy. — The Ruined To'mi. — A Night 
of Horror. — Traces of the Invaders. — No News of Tonty ..... 187 

CHAPTER XVII. 
1G80. 

TOXTY ASD THE IROQUOIS. 

The Deserters. — The Iroquois War. — The Great Town of the Illinois. — 
The Alarm. — Onset of the Iroquois. — I'eril of Tont}-. — A Treacher- 
ous Truce. — Intrepidity of Tonty. — Murder of Eibourde. — War upon 
the Dead 200 

CHAPTER XVm. 

1680. 

THE ADVEKTURES OF nEXSEPET. 

Hennepin an Impostor. — His Pretended Discovery. — His Actual Dis- 

coveiy. — Captured by the Sioux. — The Upper Mississippi . • 223 



CONTENTS. XV 

ciiapteh XIX 

1G80, 1081. 

hexnepin amoxo the sioux. 

Pagb 
Signs of Danger. — Adoption. — Hennepin and liis Indian Relatives. — The 
Hunling-Party. — Tlie Sioux Camp. — Falls of St. Anthony. — A 
Vagabond Friar. — Ilis Adventures on the Mississippi. — Greysolon 
Du Lhut. — Return to Civilization 238 

CHAPTER XX. 
1081. 

LA SALLE EEGIXS AXEW. 

Qis Constancy. — His Plans. — Ilis Savage Allies. — He becomes Snow- 
blind.— Negotiations. — Grand Council. — La Salle's Oratory. — Meet- 
ing with Tonty. — Preparation. — Departure 260 

CnAPTER XXL 
1681-1082. 

SUCCESS OP LA SALLE. 

Hia Followers. — The Chicago Portage. — Descent of the Mississippi.— 
The Lost Hunter. — Tlie Arkansas. — Tiie Taensas. — The Natchez. 
— Hostility. — The Mouth of the Mississippi. — Louis XIV. proclaimed 
Sovereign of the Great West 271 

CHAPTER XXn. 
1G82-1G83. 

ST. LOUIS OP TIIE ILLINOIS. 

Louisiana. — Illness of La Salle. — His Colony on the Illinois. — Fort St 
Louis. — Recall of Froutenac. — Le Fi'-vre de la Barre. — Critical Posi- 
tion of La Salle. — Hostility of the New Governor. — Triumpii of the 
Adverse Faction. — La Salle sails for France 284 



X-P CONTENTS. 

CEAPTER XXIII. 
1084. 

A NEW ENTEnrP.ISE. 

Paob 

La Salle at Court. — ITis Proposals. — Occupation of Louisiana. — Inva- 
sion of Jlexico. — Iloynl I'avor. — I'rep.iration. — The Naval L'om- 
uianilcr. — His Jealousy of La S:ille. — Disseusious 302 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
1884-1085. 

LA SALLE I.\ TEXAS. 

Departnre.— Quarrels -n-ith Beaujeu. — St. Domingo. — La Salle attacked 
with Fever. — His Desperate CouUition. — The Gulf of ;Mexico. — A 
Fatal Krror. — Lantling. — Wreck of the "Ainialjlu." — Indian At- 
tack. — Treachery of Beaujeu. — Onuns of Disaster . .... 31»* 

CHAPTER XXV. 

1085-1087. 

ST. LOUIS OF TE.XAS. 

The Fort. — Miserj' am! Dejection. — Enersiy of La Salic- — ITis .Tourney 
of K.\ploration. — Duhaut. — Inilian Massacre. — I.'ctiini of I a .Salle. 

— A New Calamity. — A Dcspeir.'t? Kesohnion. — Departure (or 
Canada. — Wreck of the " Belle " — ^lairia.^'u. — Sedition. — .Adven- 
tures of La Salle's Party. — Ihc Cenis. — The Camaiahes — The 
Only Hope. — The Last Farewell 833 

CHAPTER XX'Va 

1087. 

ASSASSIXATIOX OF LA SALLE. 

His Followers. — Prairie Triivelling — A Hunter's Quarrel. — The ^fiirder 
of Jloranget. — The Conspiracy. — Death of La Salle. — His Char- 
acter 355 

CHAPTER XXVIL 
1087, 1088. 

TOE IXXOCEXT A>n THE GflLTV. 

Triumph of the Murderers. — Joutel among the Cenis. — White Snv.iges. 

— Insolence of Duhaut and his Acco:nplices. — Murder ol' Duhaut and 



CONTENTS. . XVll 



Paob 
Liotot. — Ilicns, the Buccaneer. — Joutel and his Party. — Their 
Kscapc. — They reach the Arkansns. — Bravery and Devotion of 
Ton! y. — The Tugitives reach tlie Illinois. — Unworthy Conduct of 
Cavclier. — Ho and his Companions return to Trance SOD 



CHAPTER XX VIII. 

1G88-1G8'.). 

FATE OF THE TE.\AN COLONY. 

Tonty attempts to rescue the Colonists — [lis DilTiculties and Hardships. 
— Spanish Hostility. — l^xpedilion of Alonzo De Leon. — He reaches 
Fort St. Louis. — A Scene of Havoc. — Destruction of the French. — 
The End 394 

Appexdix. 
I. I-Iarly unpublished Maps of the I\Iississippi and the Great Lakes . . . 405 
ri. The Eldorado of Mathieu Sagcan 413 



INDEX 417 



b* 



INTEODUCTION". 



The Spaniards discovered the Mississippi. Bo Soto 
was buried beneath its waters ; and it was down its muddy 
current tliat his followers fled from the Eldorado of their 
dreams, transformed to a dismal wilderness of misery 
and death. The discovery was never used, and was well- 
nigh forgotten. On early Spanish maps, the Mississippi 
is often indistinguishable from other affluents of the 
Gulf. A century passed after De Soto's journeyings in 
the South, before a French explorer reached a northern 
tributary of the great river. 

This was Jean Nicollet, interpreter at Three Rivers on 
the St. Lawrence. He had been some twenty years in 
Oanada, had lived among the savage Algonquins of 
AUumette Island, and spent eight or nine years among 
the Nipissings, on the lake which bears their name. Here 
he became an Indian in all his habits, but remained, 
nevertheless, a zealous Catholic, and returned to civi- 
lization at last because he could not live without the 
sacraments. Strange stories w^ere current among the 
Nipissings of a people without hair and without beards, 
who came from the West to trade with a tribe beyond 
the Great Lakes. Who could doubt that these strangers 
were Clu'^ese or Japanese ? Such tales may well have 



XX. INTRODUCTION. 

excited Nicollet's curiosity ; and when, in or before tbe 
year 1639, he was sent as an ambassador to the tribe in 
question, he would not have been surprised if on arriving 
he had found a party of mandarins among them. Possi 
bly it Avas with a view to such a contingency that he 
provided himself, as a dress of ceremony, with a robe 
of Chinese damask embroidered with birds and flowers. 
The tribe to which he was sent was that of the Wiinieba- 
goes, living near the head of the Green Bay of Lake 
Michigan. They had come to blows with the Hurons, 
allies of the French ; and Nicollet was charged to nego- 
tiate a peace. When ho approached the Winnebago 
town, he sent one of his Indian attendants to announce 
his coming, put on his robe of damask, and advanced tc 
meet the expectant crowd Avith a pistol in each hand. 
The squaAvs and children fled, screaming that it Avas a 
manito, or spirit, armed Avith thunder and lightning; but 
the chiefs and warriors regaled him Avith so bountiful a 
hospitality that a hundred and twenty beavers Avcro 
devoured at a single feast. From the "NVinnebagocs, ho 
passed westward, ascended Fox River, crossed to tho 
Wisconsin, and descended it so far that, as he reported 
on his return, in three days more he Avould have reached 
the sea. The truth seems to be, that he mistook tho 
meaning of his Indian guides, and that the " great 
water " to which he was so near Avas not the sea, but the 
Mississippi. 

It has been affirmed that one Colonel Wood, of Vir- 
ginia, reached a branch of the Mississippi as early as the 
year 1G54, and that, about 1070, a certain Captain Bolton 
penetrated to the river itself. Neither statement is 
improbable, but neither is sustained by sufficient evi- 
dence. Meanwhile, French Jesuits and fur-traders pushed 
deeper and deeper into tho wilderness of the northern 
lakes. In 1641, Jogucs and Raymbault preaclied the 



INTRODUCTION. X3Cl 

Faith to a concourse of Indians at the outlet of Lake 
Superior. Then came the havoc and desolation of the 
Iroquois war, and, for years, farther exploration was 
arrested. At length, in 1658, two daring traders pene- 
trated to Lake Superior, wintered there, and brought 
back the tales they had heard of the ferocious Sioux 
and of a great western river on which they dwelt. Two 
years later, the aged Jesuit, Mdnard, attempted to plant 
a mission on the southern shore of the lake ; but perished 
in the forest, by famine or the tomahawk. Allouez suc- 
ceeded him, explored a part of Lake Superior, and heard, 
in his turn, of the Sioux and their great river, the 
" Messipi," More and more, the thoughts of the Jesuits, 
and not of the Jesuits alone, dwelt on this mysterious 
stream. Through what regions did it flow ; and whither 
would it lead them ; to the South Sea or the " Sea of 
Virginia ; " to Mexico, Japan, or China ? The problem 
was soon to bo solved, and the mystery revealed. The 
hour was come, and the man. 



DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 



THE 



DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 



CHAPTER I. 

1643-1669. 

CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. 

The Youth of La Salle. — IIts Connection with the Jesuits. — Hk> 
GOES TO Canada. — His Ciiakacter. — His Schemes. — His Seigniory 
AT J.A Chine. — His Expedition in Search of a Western Passage 
TO India. 

Among the burghers of Rouen was the old aud 
rich family of the Caveliers. Though citizens and 
not nobles J some of their connections held high' 
diplomatic posts and honorable employments at 
Court. They were destined to find a better claim 
to distinction. In 1643 was born at Rouen Robert 
Cavelier, better known by the designation of La 
Salle. ^ His father Jean and his uncle Henri were 

1 The following is the acte de naissance, discovered bj Margry in the 
rerjisfres de Petal civil, Paroisso St. Herbland, Rouen. " Le vingt-deuxiome 
jour de noveinbre 1043, a etc baptise Robert Cavelier, fils de honorable 
liomme Jean Cavelier et de Catherine Geest ; ses parrain et marraine 
honorables personnes Nicolas Geest et Marguerite Morice." 

La Salle's name in full was Rcnc-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. 
La Salle was the name of an estate near Rouen, belonging to the Cave 
licrs. The wealthy French burghers often distinguished the various 
members of their families by designations borrowed from landed estates. 
Thus, Fran9ois Marie Arouet, son of an ex-notary, received the name of 
V^olt«ire, which he made famous. 

1 



2 CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. [1665. 

wealthy mercTiants, living more like nobles than 
like burghers ; and the boy received an education 
answering to the marked traits of intellect and 
character which he soon began to display. He 
showed an inclination for the exact sciences, and 
especially for the mathematics, in which he made 
great proficiency. At an early age, it is said, he 
became connected with the Jesuits ; and though 
doubt has been expressed of the statement, it is 
probably true.^ 

La Salle was always an earnest Catholic ; and 
yet, judging by the qualities which his after life 
evinced, he was not very liable to religious enthu- 
siasm. It is nevertheless clear, that the Society of 
Jesus may have had a powerful attraction for his 
youthful imagination. This great organization, so 
complicated yet so harmonious, a mighty machine 
moved from the centre by a single hand, was an 
image of regulated power, full of fascination for a 
mind like his. But if it was likely that he would be 
drawn into it, it was no less likely that he would 
soon wish to escape. To find himself not at the 
centre of power, but at the circumference ; not the 

1 Margry, after investigations at Iloucn, is satisfied of its truth. 
-Jonriial Ucneral ch I' Insf ruction Piihlii/iip, xxxi. 57L Family piipcrs of 
tlic Caveliers, examined by tlie Abbe' Faillon, and cojiics of some of which 
lie tias sent to me, lead to tlio same conclusion. We shall find several 
allusions hereafter to La Salle's having in his j'outh taught in a school, 
vvlii(h, in his position, could only have been in connection with some 
religious community. The doubts alluded to have proceeded from the 
failure of Father Felix Martin, S.J., to find the name of La Salle on the 
list of novices. If lie had looked for Ujo. name of Robert Cacel'wr, he would 
probably have found it. The companion of La Salle, Hennepin, is very 
explicit with regard to this connection with the Jesuits, — a point on 
which he had no motive for falsehood. 



^566.] LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. 3 

mover, but the moved ; the passive instrument of 
another's will, taught to walk in prescribed paths, 
to renounce his individuality and become a com- 
ponent atom of a vast whole, — w^ould have been 
intolerable to him. Nature had shaped him for 
other uses than to teach a class of boys on the 
bBuches of a Jesuit school. Nor, on his part, was 
he likely to please his directors ; for, self-controlled 
and self-contained as he was, he was for too in- 
tractable a subject to serve their turn. A youth 
whose calm exterior hid an inexhaustible fund 
of pride ; whose inflexible purposes, nursed in 
secret, the confessional and the " manifestation of 
conscience " could hardly drag to the light ; whose 
strong personality would not yield to the shaping 
hand ; and who, by a necessity of his nature, could 
obey no initiative but his own, — was not after 
the model that Loyola had commended to his fol- 
lowers. ■ 

La Salle left the Jesuits, parting with them, it 
is said, on good terms, and with a reputation of 
excellent acquirements and unimpeachable morals. 
This last is very credible. The cravings of a deep 
ambition, the hunger of an insatiable intellect, the 
intense longing for action and achievement sub- 
dued in him all other passions ; and in his faults, 
tlie love of pleasure had no part. He had an elder 
brother in Canada, the Abbe Jean Cavelier, a 
priest of St. Sulpice. Apparently, it was this that 
shaped his destinies. His connection with the 
•fesuits had deprived him, under the French law, 
of the inheritance of his father, who had died not 



4 CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. (16G6. 

long before. An allowance was made to him of 
three or, as is elsewhere stated, four hundred livres 
a year, the capital of which was paid over to him, 
and with this pittance he sailed for Canada, to seek 
his fortune, in the spring of 1666.^ 

Next, we find him at Montreal. In another vol- 
ume, we have seen how an association of enthusiastic 
devotees had made a settlement at this place.^ 
Having in some measure accomplished its work, it 
was now dissolved ; and the corporation of priests, 
styled the Seminary of St. Sulpice, which had taken 
a prominent part in the enterprise, and, indeed, had 
been created with a view to it, was now the pro- 
prietor and the feudal lord, of Montreal. It was 
destined to retain its seignorial rights until the abo- 
lition of the feudal tenures of Canada in our OAvn 
day, and it still holds vast possessions in the city and 
island. These worthy ecclesiastics, models of a dis- 
creet and sober conservatism, were holding a post 
with which a band of veteran soldiers or warlike 
frontiersmen would have been better matched. . 
Montreal was perhaps the most dangerous place in 
Canada. In time of war, which might have been 
called the normal condition of the colony, it was ex- 
p sed by its position to incessant inroads of the Iro- 
quois, or Five Nations, of New York ; and no man 

1 It does not appear what vows La Salle had taken. By a recent 
ordinance, 1666, persons entering religious orders could not take the final 
vows hel'ore the age of twenty-five. By tlie family papers above men- 
tioned, it appears, liowever, that he had brouglit himself under the opera- 
tion of the law, which debarred those who, having entered religious orders, 
afterwards withdrew, from claiming the inheritance of relatives who had 
died after their entrance. 

2 " The Jesuits in North America," c. xv. 



1666.] LA SALLE AT MONTREAL. 5 

could venture into the forests or the fields without 
bearing his life in his hand. The savage confeder- 
ates had just received a sharp chastisement at the 
hands of Courcelles, the governor ; and the result 
was a treaty of peace, which might at any moment 
be broken, but which was an inexpressible relief 
while It lasted. 

The priests of St. Sulpice were granting out their 
lands, on very easy terms, to settlers. They Avished 
to extend a thin line of settlements along the front 
of their island, to form a sort of outpost, from which 
an alarm could be given on any descent of the Iro- 
quois. La Salle was the man for such a purpose. 
Had the priests understood him, — which they evi- 
dently did not, for some of them suspected him of 
levity, the last foible with which he could be charged, 
— had they understood him, they would have seen 
in him a young man in whom the fire of youth 
glowed not the less ardently for the veil of reserve 
that covered it ; who would shrink from no danger, 
but would not court it in bravado ; and who would 
cling' with an invincible tenacity of gripe to any 
purpose which he might espouse. There is good 
reason to think that he had come to Canada with 
purposes already conceived, and that he was ready 
to avail himself of any stepping-stone which might 
help to realize them. Queylus, Superior of th^ 
Seminary, made him a generous offer ; and he ac- 
cepted it. This was the gratuitous grant of a large 
tract of land at the place now called La Chine, above 
the great rapids of the same name, and eight or nine 
miles from Montreal. On one hand, the place was 



6 CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. [hWy. 

greatly exposed to attack ; and on the other, it was 
favorably situated for the fur-trade. La Salle 'and 
his successors became its feudal proprietors, on the 
sole condition of delivering to the Seminary, on 
every change of ownership, a medal of fine silver, 
weighing one mark.^ He entered on the improve- 
ment of his new domain, with what means he could 
command, and began to grant out his land to such 
settlers as would join him. 

Approaching the shore where the city of Montreal 
now stands, one would have seen a row of small 
compact dwellings, extending along a narrow street, 
parallel to the river, and then, as now, called St. 
Paul Street. On a hill at the right stood the wind- 
mill of the seigneurs, built of stone, and pierced 
with loop-holes to serve, in time of need, as a place 
of defence. On the left, in an angle formed by the 
junction of a rivulet with the St. Lawrence, was a 
square bastioned fort of stone. Here lived the mili- 
tary governor, appointed by the Seminary, and com- 
manding a few soldiers of the regiment of Carignan. 
In front, on the line of the street, were the enclosure 
and buildings of the Seminary, and, nearly adjoining 
them, those of the Hotel-Dieu, or Hospital, both 
] i-ovided for defence in case of an Indian attack. 
In the hospital enclosure was a small church, open- 
ing on the street, and, in the absence of any other, 
serving for the whole settlement.- 

1 Transport de la Seicjneurie de St. Sulpi'ce, cited by Faillon. La Siille 
called his new domain as above. Two or three years later, it received 
the name of La Chine, for a reason which will appear. 

2 A detailed plan of Montreal at this time is preserved in the Archives 
de I'Empire, and has been reproduced by Faillon. There is another, a 



16G7.] LA CHINE. 7 

Landing, passing the fort, and walking southward 
along the shore, one would soon have left the rough 
clearings, and entered the primeval forest. Here, 
mile after mile, he would have journeyed on in soli- 
tude, when the hoarse roar of the rapids, foaming 
in fury on his left, would have reached his listening 
ear; and, at length, after a walk of some three hours, 
he would have found the rude beginnings of a set- 
tlement. It was where the St. Lawrence widens 
into the broad expanse called the Lake of St. Louis. 
Here, La Salle had traced out the circuit of a pali- 
saded village, and assigned to each settler half an 
arpent, or about a third of an acre, within the en- 
closure, for which he was to render to the young 
seigneur a yearly acknowledgment of three capons, 
besides six deniers — that is, half a sou — in money. 
To each was assigned, moreover, sixty arpents of 
land beyond the limits of the village, with the per- 
petual rent of half a sou for each arpent. He also 
set apart a common, two hundred arpents in extent, 
for the use of the settlers, on condition of the pay- 
ment by each of five sous a year. He reserved four 
hundred and twenty arpents for his own personal 
domain, and on this he began to clear the ground 
and erect buildings. Similar to this were the be- 
ginnings of all the Canadian seigniories formed at 
this troubled period.' 

That La Salle came to Canada with objects dis- 

few years later, and still more minute, of which a fac-simile will be found 
in the Library of the Canadian rarlianient. 

1 Tlie above particulars have been unearthed by the indefatigable 
Abbi Faillon. Some of La Salle's grants are still preserved iu the ancient 
records of Montreal. 



8 CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. [1668. 

tinctly in view, is probable from the fact that he at 
once began to study the Indian languages, and with 
such success that he is said, within two or three 
years, to have mastered the Iroquois and seven or 
eight other languages and dialects.^ From the shore 
of his seigniory, he could gaze westward over the 
broad breast of the Lake of St. Louis, bounded by 
the dim forests of Chateauguay and Beauharnois ; 
but his thoughts flew far beyond, across the wild 
and lonely world that stretched towards the sunset. 
Like Champlain and all the early explorers, he 
dreamed of a passage to the South Sea, and a new 
road for commerce to the riches of China and Ja- 
pan. Indians often came to his secluded settlement; 
and, on one occasion, he was visited by a band of 
the Seneca Iroquois, not long before the scourge 
of the colony, but now, in virtue of the treaty, wear- 
ing the semblance of friendship. The visitors 
spent the winter with him, and told him of a river 
called the Ohio, rising in their country, and flowing 
into the sea, but at such a distance that its mouth 
could only be reached after a journey of eight or 
nine months. Evidently, the Ohio and the Missis- 
sippi are here merged into one.~ In accordance 
w'itl- geographical views then prevalent, he conceived 
that this great river must needs flow into the " Ver- 



' Papxers de Famille, MSS. He is said to have made several jour- 
neys into the forests, towards the North, in the years lfiG7 and 1G68, and to 
liave satisfied himself tliat little could be hoped from explorations in that 
direction. 

^ According to Dollier de Casson, who had good opportunities of 
knowing, the Iroquois always called the Mississippi the Oliio, while tlve 
Alt,onquins gave it its present name. 



166y.J SCHEMES OF DISCOVERY. 9 

milion Sea ; " that is, the Gulf of California. If so, 
it would give him what he sought, — a western 
passage to China ; while, in any case, the popu- 
lous Indian tribes said to inhabit its banks, might 
be made a source of great commercial profit. 

La Salle's imagination took fire. His resolution 
was soon formed ; and he descended the St. Law- 
rence to Quebec, to gain the countenance of the 
Governor to his intended exploration. Few men 
were more skilled than he in the art of clear 
and plausible statement. Both the Governor, 
Courcelles, and the Intendant, Talon, were readily 
won over to his plan ; for which, however, they 
seem to have given him no more substantial aid than 
that of the Governor's letters patent authorizing the 
enterprise.^ The cost was to be his own ; and he 
had no money, having spent it all on his seigniory. 
He therefore proposed that the Seminary, which 
had given it to him, should buy it back again, with 
such improvements as he had made. Queylus, the 
Superior, being favorably disposed towards him, con- 
sented, and bought of him the greater part ; while 
La Salle sold the remainder, including the clearings, 
to one Jean Milot, an ironmonger, for twenty-eight 
hundred livres." With this he bought four canoes, 
with the necessary supplies, and hired fourteen 
men. 

Meanwhile, the Seminary itself was preparing a 
similar enterprise. The Jesuits at this time not 

* Talon, in liis letter to the kingr, of 10 Oct. 1G70, expresses himself 
as if tlie enterprise had originated witli him. 

2 Faillon, Colonie FruiK^uisL eit t'uuada, iii. 288. 



10 CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. [lG6i). 

only licld an ascendency over the other ecclesiastics 
in Canada, but exercised an inordinate influence on 
the civil government. The Seminary priests of 
Montreal were jealous of these powerful rivals, 
and eager to emulate their zeal in the saving of 
souls, and the conquering of new domains for the 
Faith. Under this impulse, they had, three years 
before, established a mission at Quinte, on the north 
shore of Lake Ontario, in charge of two of their, 
number, one of whom was the Abbe Fenelon, elder 
brother of the celebrated Archbishop of Cambray. 
Another of them, Dollier de Casson, had spent the 
winter in a hunting-camp of the Nipissings, where 
an Indian prisoner, captured in the North-west, told 
him of populous tribes of that quarter, living in 
heathenish darkness. On this, the Seminary priests 
resolved to essay their conversion ; and an expedi- 
tion, to be directed by Dollier, was fitted out to 
this end. 

He was not ill suited to the purpose. He had 
been a soldier in his youth, and had fought valiantly 
as an officer of cavalry under Turenne. He was a 
man of great courage; of a tall, commanding person; 
and uncommon bodily strength, of which he had 
given striking proofs in the campaign of Courcelles 
against the Iroquois, three years before.^ On going 
to Quebec, to procure the necessary outfit, he was 
urged by Courcelles to modify his plans so far as to 

1 lie was tliefluthor of tlie very curious and valuable Ilistoire de Mon- 
rr^iil, pix'sorved in tlie Bibiiotli^que Mazarine, of which a copy is in my 
possession. Tlie Historical Society of Montreal has recently resolved to 
print it. 



1669.J DEPARTUEE 1 1 

act in concert with La Salle in exploring the mys- 
tery of the great unknown river of the West. Dol- 
lier and his brother priests consented. One of them. 
Galinee, was joined with him as a colleague, be- 
cause he was skilled in surveying, and could make 
a map of their route. Three canoes were procured, 
and seven hired men completed the party. It was 
determined that La Salle's expedition, and that of 
the Seminary, should be combined in one ; an ar- 
rangement ill suited to the character of the young 
explorer, who was unfit for any enterprise of which 
he was not the undisputed chief. 

Midsummer was near, and there was no time to 
lose. Yet the moment was most unpropitious, for 
a Seneca chief had lately been murdered by three 
scoundrel soldiers of the fort of Montreal ; and, 
w^hile they were undergoing their trial, it became 
known that three other Frenchmen had treacher- 
ously put to death several L'oquois of the Oneida 
tribe, — in order to get possession of their furs. 
The whole colony trembled in expectation of a 
new outbreak of tlie war. Happily, the event 
proved otherwise. The authors of the last mur- 
der escaped : but the three soldiers were shot at 
Montreal, in presence of u considerable number 
of the Iroquois, who declared themselves satisfied 
with the atonement ; and on this same day, the 
sixth of July, the adventurers began their voyage 



CHAPTER n. 

1G69-167L 

LA SALLE AND THE SULPITIANS. 

The Fkench in Western New Yorx. — Louis Joliet. — The SuLrmANS 
ON Lake Erie. — At Detroit. — At Saut Ste. Marie. — The IMystery 
OF La Salle. — He discovers the Ohio. — He descends the Illi- 
nois. — Did he reach the Mississim? 

La Chine was the starting-point, and the com- 
bined parties, in all twenty-four men with seven 
canoes, embarked on the Lake of St. Louis. With 
them were two other canoes, bearing the party of 
Senecas who had wintered at La Salle's settlement, 
and who were now to act as guides. They fought 
their way upward against the perilous rapids of the 
St. Lawrence, then scarcely known to the voyager, 
threaded the romantic channels of the Thousand 
Islands, and issued on Lake Ontario. Thirty days 
of toil and exposure had told upon them so severely 
that not a man of the party, except the Indians, 
had escaped the attacks of disease in some form. 

Their guides led them directly to the great vil- 
lage of the Senecas, near the banks of the Gene- 
see, flattering them with the hope that they would 
here find other guides, to conduct them to the Ohio ; 
and, in truth, the Senecas had among them a pris- 



1GG9.1 THE SENECA TOWN. 13 

oner of one of the western tribes, who would have 
answered their purpose. The chiefs met in council : 
but La Salle had not yet mastered the language 
sufficiently to serve as spokesman ; and a Dutch 
interpreter, brought by the priests, could not ex- 
plain himself in French. The Jesuit Fremin was 
stationed at the village, and his servant came to 
their aid : but, as the two priests thought, wilfully 
misinterpreted them ; and they also conceived the 
suspicion, perhaps uncharitable, that the Jesuits, 
jealous of their enterprise, had tampered with the 
Senecas, to thwart it. Be this as it may, the Indians 
])roved impracticable, evaded their request for a 
guide, burned before their eyes the unfortunate 
western prisoner, and assured them that if they 
went to the Ohio the people of those parts would 
put them to death. As there were many among 
the Senecas who wished to kill them in revenge 
for the chief murdered near Montreal, and as these 
and others were at times in a frenzy of drunkenness 
with brandy brought from Albany, the position of 
the French was very hazardous. They remained, 
however, for a month ; still clinging to the hope of 
obtaining guides. At length, an Indian from a 
village called Ganastogue, a kind of Iroquois colony 
at the head of Lake Ontario, offered to conduct 
them thither, assuring them that they would find 
what they sought. They left the Seneca town ; 
coasted the south shore of the lake ; passed the 
mouth of the ^N^iagara, where they heard the dis- 
tant roar of the cataract ; and, five days after, 
reached Ganastogue. The inhabitants proved 



14 LA SALT-E AND THE SULPITIANS. [1GG9 

friendly, and La Salle received the welcome pres- 
ent of a Shawnee prisoner, who told them that 
the Ohio could be reached in six weeks, and that 
he would guide them to it. Delighted at this good 
fortune, they were about to set out ; when they 
heard, to their astonishment, of the arrival of tAvo 
other Frenchmen at a neighboring village. One 
of the strangers proved to be a man destined to 
hold a conspicuous place in the history of western 
discovery. This Avas Louis Joliet, a young man of 
about the age of La Salle. Like him, he had 
studied for the priesthood ; but the world and the 
wilderness had conquered his early inclinations, and 
changed him to an active and adventurous fur-tra- 
der. Talon had sent him to discover and explore 
the copper-mines of Lake Superior. He had failed 
in the attempt, and was now returning. His Indian 
guide, afraid of passing the Niagara portage lest he 
should meet enemies, had led him from Lake Erie, 
by way of Grand Elver, toAvards the head of Lake 
Ontario ; and thus it Avas that he met La Salle and 
the Sulpitians. 

This meeting caused a change of plan. Joliet 
shoAved the priests a map Avhich he had made, of 
such parts of the Upper Lakes as he had Adsited, 
and gaA^e them a copy of it ; telling them, at the same 
time, of the PottaAvattamies, and other tribes of that 
region in grievous need of spiritual succor. The 
result Avas a determination on their part to follow 
the route Avhich he suggested, notAvithstanding the 
remonstrances of La Salle, Avho in vain reminded 
them that the Jesuits had pre-occupied the field. 



1669.] SEPARATION. 15 

and would regard them as intruders. They resolved 
that the Pottawattamies should no longer sit in 
darkness : while, as for the Mississippi, it could be 
reached, as they conceived, with less risk by this, 
northern route than by that of the south. 

Since reaching the head of Lake Ontario, La 
Salle had been attacked by a violent fever, from 
which he w^as not yet recovered. He now told his 
two colleagues that he was in no condition to go 
forward, and should be forced to part with them. 
The staple of La Salle's character, as his life will 
attest, was an invincible determination of purpose, 
which set at naught all risks and all sufferings. 
He had cast himself with all his resources into this 
enterprise, and, while his faculties remained, he was 
not a man to recoil from it. On the other hand, 
the masculine fibre of which he was made did not 
always withhold him from the practice of the arts 
of address, and the use of what Dollier de Casson 
styles belles paroles. He respected the priesthood, — 
with the exception, it seems, of the Jesuits, — and 
he was under obligations to the Sulpitians of Mon- 
treal. Hence there can be no doubt that he used 
his illness as a pretext for escaping from their com- 
pany without ungraciousness, and following his 
own path in his own way. 

On the last day of September, the priests made 
an altar, supported by the paddles of the canoes 
laid on forked sticks. Dollier said mass ; La Salle 
and his followers received the sacrament, as did 
also those of his late colleagues ; and thus thev 
parted, — the Sulpitians and their party descendin<.' 



16 LA SALLE AND THE SULPITIANS. [1670. 

the Grand River towards Lake Erie, while La 
Salle, as they supposed, began his return to Mon- 
treal. What course he actually took, we shall soon 
inquire; and meanwhile, for a few moments, we 
will follow the priests. When they reached Lake 
Erie, they saw it tossing like an angry ocean under 
a wild autumnal sky. They had no mind to tempt 
the dangerous and unknown navigation, and en- 
camped for the winter in the forest near the penin- 
sula called the Long Point. Here they gathered a 
good store of chestnuts, hickory-nuts, plums, and 
grapes ; and built themselves a log-cabin, with a 
recess at the end for an altar. They passed the 
winter unmolested, shooting game in abundance, 
and saying mass three times a week. Early in 
spring, they planted a large cross, attached to it the 
arms of France, and took formal possession of the 
country in the name of Louis XIV. This done, 
they resumed their voyage, and, after many troubles, 
landed one evening in a state of exhaustion on or 
near Point Pelee, towards the western extremity of 
Lake Erie. A storm rose as they lay asleep, and 
swept off a great part of their baggage, which, iu 
their fatigue, they had left at the edge of the Avater. 
Their altar-service was lost with the rest, — a misfor- 
tune which they ascribed to the jealousy and malice 
of the Devil. Debarred henceforth from saying 
mass, they resolved to return to Montreal and leave 
the Pottawattamies uninstructed. They presently 
entered the strait by which Lake Huron joins Lake 
Erie ; and, landing near where Detroit now stands, 
found a larj?e stone, somewhat suggestive of the 



1670.] SULPITIANS AT DETROIT. 11 

human figure, which the Indians had bedaubed 
with paint, and which they worshipped as a manito. 
In view of their late misfortune, this device of the 
arch-enemy excited their utmost resentment. " After 
the loss of our altar-service," writes Galinee, " and 
the hunger we had suffered, there was not a man 
of us who was not filled with hatred against this 
false deity. I devoted one of my axes to breaking 
him in pieces ; and then, having fastened our canoes 
side by side, we carried the largest piece to the 
middle of the river, and threw it, with all the rest, 
into the water, that he might never be heard of 
again." 

This is the fkst recorded passage of white men 
through the Strait of Detroit ; though Joliet had, 
no doubt, passed this way on his return from the 
Upper Lakes. ^ The two missionaries took this 
course, with the intention of proceeding to the Saut 
Sainte Marie, and there joining the Ottawas, and 
other tribes of that region, in their yearly descent 
to Montreal. They issued upon Lake Huron ; fol- 
lowed its eastern shores till they reached the Geor- 
gian Bay, near the head of which the Jesuits had 
established their great mission of the Hurons, de- 
stroyed, twenty years before, by the Iroquois ; ^ and, 
ignoring or slighting the labors of the rival mission- 
aries, held their way northward along the rocky 
archipelago that edged those lonely coasts. They 

1 The Jesuits and fur-traders, on tlieir way to the Upper Lakes, had 
followed the route of the Ottawa, or, more recently, that of Toronto and 
the Georgian Bay. Iroquois hostility had long closed the Niagara portage 
and Lake Erie against them. 

^ " Jesuits in North America." 

9.» 



18 LA SALLE AND THE SULPITIANS. [1670 

passed the Manatoulins, and, ascending the strait 
by which Lake Superior discharges its waters, ar- 
rived on the twenty-fifth of May at Ste. Marie du 
Saut. Here they found the two Jesuits, Dablon 
and Marquette, in a square fort of cedar pickets, 
built by their men within the past- year, and enclos- 
ing a chapel and a house. Near by, they had 
cleared a large tract of land, and sown it with 
wheat, Indian corn, peas, and other crops. The 
new-comers were graciously received, and invited 
to vespers in the chapel ; but they very soon found 
La Salle's prediction made good, and saw that the 
Jesuit fathers wanted no help from St. Sulpice. 
Gahnee, on his part, takes occasion to remark that, 
though the 'Jesuits had baptized a few Indians at the 
Saut, not one of them was a good enough Christian 
to receive the Eucharist ; and he intimates, that the 
case, by their own showing, was still worse at their 
mission of St. -Esprit. The two Sulpitians did not 
care to prolong their stay ; and, three days after 
their arrival, they left the Saut: not, as they ex- 
pected, with the Indians, but. with a French guide, 
furnished by the Jesuits. Ascending French Eiver 
to Lake Nipissing, they crossed to the waters of the 
Ottawa, and descended to iNIontreal, which they 
reached on the eighteenth of June. They had made 
no discoveries and no converts ; but Galinee, after 
his arrival, made the earliest map of the Upper 
Lakes known to exist.^ 



^ Galinee appears to have made use of the map given him by Joliet. 
He says, in the narrative of his journey, that he has laid ilown on his own 
map nothing but what he had himself seen ; but this is disproved by the 



1G69-70.] LA SALLE'S DISCOVERIES. 19 

We return now to La Salle, only to find ourselves 
involved in mist and obscurity. What did he do 
after he left the two priests ? Unfortunately, a defi- 
nite answer is not possible ; and the next two years 
of his life remain in some measure an enigma. 
That he was busied in active exploration, and that 
he made important discoveries, is certain ; but the 
extent and character, of these discoveries remain 
wrapped in doubt. He is known to have kept jour- 
nals and made maps ; and these were in existence, 
and in possession of his niece, Madeleine Cavelier, 
then in advanced age, as late as the year 1756 ; ^ be- 
yond which time the most diligent inquiry has failed 
to trace them. The Abbe Faillon affirms, that some 
of La Salle's men, refusing to follow him, returned 
to La Chine, and that the place then received its 
name, in derision of the young adventurer's dream of 
a westward passage to China. ^ As for himself, the 

map itself. Thus, lie represents with minuteness the northern coast as 
far west as the islands at the mouth of Green Bay ; but that he never went 
so far is evident not only from his own journal, but from the fact that he 
was ignorant of the existence of tlie Straits of Michillimackinac and the 
peninsida of Michigan ; Lakes Huron and Michigan being by him merged 
into one, under the name of "Michigane, ou Mer Douce des Ilurons." 'Die 
map, of which a fac-simile is before me, measures four and a half feet by 
tlu-ee and a half It is covered with descriptive remarks, which, oddly 
enough, are all inverted, so that it must be turned with the north side 
down in order to read them. Faillon has engraved it, but on a small 
scale, with the omission of most of the inscriptions, and other changes. 
The well-known Jesuit map of Lake Superior appeared the year after. 

Besides making the map, Galinee wrote a very long and minute 
journal of the expedition, which is preserved in tlie Bibliotheque Impe- 
riale. Much of the substance of it is given by Faillon, Cvlonie Fruni;aise, 
iii. chap, vii., and M.'xrgry, Journal General de I'lnstrnctlon Fiihliqne, xxxi. 
No 67. In the letters of Talon to Colbert are various allusions to the 
jcarncy of Dollier and Galine'e. 

1 See Margry, in Journal Gifn^rnl de VTnxtrtictlon PnhUqne, xxxi. 659. 

'■* Dollier de Casson alludes to this as "cette transmigration cel6bre qui 
fse fit de la Chine dans ces quartiers." 



20 LA SALLE AND THE SULPITIANS. [1GG9-70 

only distinct record of his movements is that con- 
tained in an unpublished paper, entitled, " Histoire 
de Monsieur de la Salle." It is an account of his ex- 
plorations, and of the state of parties in Canada pre- 
vious to the year 1678 ; taken from the lips of La 
Salle himself, by a person whose name does not ap- 
pear, but who declares that he had ten or twelve 
conversations with him at Paris, whither he had 
come with a petition to the Court. The writer him- 
self had never been in America, and was ignorant 
of its geography ; hence blunders on his part might 
reasonably be expected. His statements, however, 
are in some measure iutelligible ; and the following 
is the substance of them. After leaving the priests. 
La Salle went to Onondaga, where we are left to 
infer that he succeeded better in getting a guide 
than he had before done among the Senecas. Thence 
he made his way to a point six or seven leagues dis- 
tant from Lake Erie, where he reached a branch of 
the Ohio ; and, descending it, followed the river as 
ftir as the rapids at Louisville, or, as has been main- 
tained, beyond its confluence with the Mississippi. 
His men now refused to go farther, and abandoned 
him, escaping- to the English and the Dutch ; 
whereupon he retraced his steps alone.^ This must 

1 As no part of the memoir referred to lias been published, I extract 
the passage relating to this journey. After recounting La Salle's visit 
with the Sulpitians to tlie Seneca village, and stating that tlie intrigues of 
the Jesuit missionary prevented them from obtaining a guide, it speaks 
of the separation of the travellers and the journey of Galince and his 
party to the Saut Ste. Marie, where " les Je'suites les congedierent." It 
then proceeds as follows : " Cependant Mr. de la Salle continua son che- 
min par une riviere qui va de Test k I'ouest ; et passe a Onontaqu^ 
(Onondaga), puis a six ou sept lieues au-dessous du Lac Erie; et estant 



1669-71.1 THE RIVER ILLINOIS. 21 

have been in the winter of 1669-70, or in the fol 
lowing spring ; unless there is an error of date in the 
statement of Nicolas Perrot, the famous voyageur. 
who says that he met him in the summer of 1670. 
hunting on the OttaAva with a party of Iroquois.^ 

But how was La Salle employed in the following 
year' The same memoir has its solution to the 
problem. By this it appears that the indefatigable 
explorer embarked on Lake Erie, ascended the De- 
troit to Lake Huron, coasted the unknown shores 
of Michigan, passed the Straits of Michillimackinac, 
and leaving Green Bay behind him, entered what is 
described as an incomparably larger bay, but which 
was evidently the southern portion of Lake Michi- 
gan. Thence he crossed to a river flowing west- 
ward, — evidently the Illinois, — and followed it until 
it was joined by another river flowing from the north- 
west to the southeast. By this, the Mississippi only 
can be meant ; and he is reported to have said that 
he descended it to the thirty-sixth degree of latitude ; 
where he stopped, assured that it discharged itself 
not into the Gulf of California, but into the Gulf of 

parvenu jusqu'au 280™« ou 83™° degre de longitude, et jusqu'au 41"" 
degre de latitude, trouva un sault qui tombe vers I'ouest dans un pays b:is 
mareseageux, tout couvert de vielles souches, dont il 3' en a quelques- 
unes qui sont encore sur pied. II fut done contraint de prendre terre, et 
suivant une hauteur qui lepouvoit mener loin, il trouva quelques sauvages 
qui luy dirent que fort loin de la le niesnie fleuve qui se perdoit dans cette 
terre basse et vaste se rc'unnissoit en un lit. II continua done son eiie- 
min, niais eomnie la fatigue estoit grande, 23 ou 24 hommes qu'il avoit 
nienez jusques Ici le quitterent tous en une nuit, regagncrent le fleuve, et 
se sauverent, les uns u la Nouvelle Hollande et les autres ti la Nouvelle 
Angleterre. II se vit done seul a 400 lieues de chez luy, oil il ne laisse 
pas de revenir, remontant la riviere et vivant de cliasse, d'herbes, et de ce 
que luy donnerent les sauvages qu'il rencontra en son cliemiu." 
1 I'errot, M^nioires, 119, 120. 



22 LA SALLE AND THE SULPITIANS |ir,7L 

Mexico ; and resolved to follow it thither at a future 
day, when better provided with men and supplies.' 
The first of these statements, — that relating to 
the Ohio, — confused, vague, and in great part in- 
correct as it certainly is, is nevertheless well sus- 
tained as regards one essential point. La Salle 
himself, in a memorial addressed to Count Frontenac 
in 1677, affirms that he discovered the Ohio, and 
descended it as far as to a fall which obstructed it.^ 
Agam, his rival, Louis Joliet, whose testimony on 
this point cannot be suspected, made two maps of 
the region of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. 
The Ohio is laid down on both of them, with an in- 

' The memoir, — after stating, as above, that he entered Lake Huron, 
doubled the peninsula of Micliigan, and passed La Baj'e des Puants 
(Green Bay), — says, " II reconnut une baye ineomparablenient plus large ; 
au fond de laquelle vers I'ouest il trouva un tre's-beau havre et au fond de 
ce havre un fleuve qui va de I'est ci I'ouest. II suivlt ce fleuve, et estant 
parvenu jusqu'environ le 280""= degre de longitude et le 39"^'= de latitude, 
il trouva un autre fleuve qui se joignant au preiuier coulait du nordouest 
au sudest, et il suivit ce fleuve jusqu'au 36™<= degre' de latitude." 

The " tres-beau havre" may have been the entrance of the River 
Chicago, whence, by an easy portage, he might have reached the Des 
Plaines branch of tlie Illinois. We shall see that he took this course in 
his famous exploration of 1632. 

The Intendant Talon announces in his despatches of this year that he 
had sent La Salle southward and westward to explore. 

'^ The following are his words (he speaks of himself in the third per 
Bon) : " L'anne'e 16G7, et Ics suivantes, il fit divers voyages avec beaucoup 
de depcnses, dans lesquels il decouvrit le premier beaucoup de pays 
au sud des grands lacs, et enire au/res la (jrande riviere d'Ohio; il la 
suivit jusqu'a un endroit ou elle tombe de fort haut dans de vastes marais, 
h la hauteur de 37 degres, apres avoir etc grossie par une autre riviere fort 
large qui vient du nord ; et toutes ces eaux se de'chargent selon toutes lea 
apjiarences dans le Golfe du Mexique." 

This " autre riviere," which, it seems, was above the fall, may have 
been the Miami or the Scioto. There is but one fall on the river, that 
of Louisville, which is not so high as to deserve to be described as " fort 
haut," being only a strong rapid. The latitude, as will be seen, is differ- 
ent iu the two accounts, and incorrect in both. 



if.Ti.i THE Mississipri. 23 

scription to the effect that it had been explored by 
La Salle. ^ That he discovered the Ohio may then 
be regarded as established. That he descended it 
to the Mississippi, he himself does not pretend ; nor 
is there reason to believe that he did so. 

With regard to his alleged voyage down the Illi- 
rois, the case is different. Here, he is reported to 
have made a statement which admits but one in- 
terpretation, — that of the discovery by him of the 
Mississippi prior to its discovery by Joliet and 
Marquette. This statement is attributed to a man 
not prone to vaunt his own exploits, who never pro- 
claimed them in print, and whose testimony, even 
in his own case, must therefore have weight. But 
it comes to us through the medium of a person, 
strongly biased in favor of La Salle and against 
Marquette and the Jesuits. 

Seven years had passed since the alleged dis- 
covery, and La Salle had not before laid claim to it ; 
although it was matter of notoriety that during five 
years it had been claimed by Joliet, and that his 
claim was generally admitted. The correspondence 

1 One of these maps is entitled Carte de la d^couverte da Sieiir Joliet, 
1074. Over tlie lines representing the Ohio are the words, " Route du 
sieur de la Salle pour aller dans le Mexique." The other map of .Joliet 
bears, also written over the Oiiio, the words, " Riviere par ou descondit 
le sieur de la Salle au sortir du lac Erie' pour aller dans le Mexique." I 
h^ave also another manuscript map, made hefore tiie voya;j;e of Joliet and 
Marquette, and apparent!}' in the year lG7o, on which the Ohio is repre- 
sented as far as to a point a little helow Louisville, and over it is written, 
"Riviere Oin'o, ainsy appellee par les Iroquois a cause de sa beautc', par oil 
le sieur de la Salle est descendu." Tlie Mississijipi is not represented on 
this map; but — ami this is very significant, as indicating the extent of 
La Salle's exjjloration of the following year — a small part of the upper 
Illinois is laid down. 



\ 



24 LA SALLE AND THE SULPITL^S. [^671 

of the Governor and the Intendant is silent as to 
La Salle's having penetrated to the Mississippi ; 
though the attempt was made under the auspices of 
the latter, as his own letters declare ; while both had 
the discovery of the great river earnestly at heart. 
The governor, Frontenac, La Salle's ardent sup 
porter and ally, believed in 1672, as his letters 
show, that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of 
California, and, two years later, he announces to 
the minister Colbert its discovery oy Joliet.' After 
La Salle's death, his brother, his nephew, and his 
niece addressed a memorial to the King, petitioning 
for certain grants in consideration of the discoveries 
of their relative, which they specify at some length ; 
but they do not pretend that he reached the Mis- 
sissippi before his expeditions of 1679 to 1682.^ 
This silence is the more significant, as it is this very 
niece who had possession of the papers in which 
La Salle recounts the journeys of which the issues 
are in question.^ Had they led him to the Missis- 

J Lettre de Frontenac au Ministre, 14 Nov. 1674. He here speaks of 
" la grande riviere qu'il ( Joliet) a trouvee, qui va du nord au sud, et qui 
est aussi large que celle du Saint-Laurent vis-a-vis de Que'bec." Four 
years later, Frontenac speaks slightingly of Joliet, but neither denies his 
discovery of the Mississippi nor claims it for La Salle, in whose interest 
lie writes. 

'^ Papiers de Famille, MSS. ; Memoire presente au Roi. The following is 
an e.xtract : " II parvient . . . jusqu'ii la riviere dos Illinois. II y con- 
struisit un fort situe k 350 lieues au-dela du fort de Frontenac, et suivant 
ensuite le cours de cette riviere, il trouve qu'elle se jettoit dans un grand 
fleuve appelle' par ceux du pays Missisippi, c'est a dire grande eaii, environ 
cent lieues audessous du fort qu'il venoit de construire." This fort was 
Fort Crevecoeur, built in 1680, near the site of Peoria. The memoir goes 
on to relate the descent of La Salle to the Gulf, which concluded this ex- 
pedition of 1679-82. 

3 The following is an extract, given by Margry, from a letter of the 
aj:ed Madeleine Cavelier, dated 21 Fe'vrier 1756. and addressed to hei 



1671.1 LA SALLE'S DISCOVERIES. 25 

sippi, it is reasonably certain that she would have 
made it known in her memorial. La Salle dis- 
covered the Ohio, and in all probability the Illinois 
also ; but that he discovered the Mississippi has 
not been proved, nor, in the light of the evidence 
we have, is it likely. 

nephew M. Le Baillif, wLj had applied for the papers in behalf of the 
minister, Silhouette : " J'ay cherohe' une occasion sure pour vous anvoye 
les papiers de M. de la Salle. II y a des cartes que j'ay jointe a ces pa- 
piers, qui doivent prouver que, en 1675, M. de Lasalle avet deja fet deux 
voya{;;es en ces decouverte, puisqu'il y avet une carte, que je vous en- 
voye, par laquelle il est fait mention de I'androit auquel M. de Lasalle 
aborda pres le fleuve de Mississipi." Tliis, though brought forward to 
support the claim of discovery prior to Joliet, seems to indicate tliat La 
Salle had not reached the Mississippi, but only approached it, previous 
to 1675. 

Margry, in a series of papers in the Journal G^ne'ral de V Instruction Pub- 
liijue for 1862, first took the position tliat La Salle readied the Mississippi 
in 1670 and 1671, and has brought forward in defence of it all the docu- 
ments wliich his unwearied research enabled him to discover. Father 
Tailhan, S.J., has replied at length, in the copious notes to his edition of 
Nicolas Perrot, but without having seen the principal document cited by 
Margry, and of which extracts have been given in the notes to this 
chapter. 



CHAPTER III. 

1G70-1672. 
THE JESUITS ON THE LAKES. 

The Old Missions axd the New. — A Change of Spirit. — Lake 
Sltkuior and the Cori-Ei:-MixES. — Ste. Marie. — La Poixte. — 

MlCIIIl.LIMACKI.VAC. — IeSUITS OX LAKE MICHIGAN. — AlLOUEZ ANO 

Dablon. — The Jesuit Fur-Tkade. 

What were the Jesuits doing ? Since the ruin 
of their great mission of the Hurons, a perceptible 
change had taken place in them. They had put 
forth exertions almost superhuman, set at naught 
famine, disease, and death, lived with the self-ab- 
nenation of saints and died with the devotion of 
martyrs ; and the result of all had been a disastrous 
failure. From no short-coming on their part, but 
from the force of events beyond the sphere of their 
influence, a very demon of havoc had crushed their 
incipient churches, slaughtered their converts, up- 
rooted the populous communities on which their 
hopes had rested, and scattered them in bands of 
wretched fugitives far and wide through the wilder- 
ness,' They had devoted themselves in the ful- 

' See " The Jesuits in North America " 



1670-72.] REPORTS OF THE JESUITS. 2 / 

ness of faith to the building up of a Christian and 
Jesuit empire on the conversion of the great station- 
ary tribes of the hikes ; and of these none remained 
but the Iroquois, — the destroyers of the rest, among 
whom, indeed, was a held which might stimulate 
their zeal by an abundant promise of sufferings and 
martyrdoms ; but which, from its geographical posi- 
tion, was too much exposed to Dutch and English 
influence to promise great and decisive results. 
Their best hopes were now in the North and the 
West ; and thither, in great part, they had turned 
their energies. 

AVe find them on Lake Huron, Lake Su2:)erior, 
and Lake Michigan, laboring vigorously as of old, 
but in a spirit not quite the same. Now, as before, 
two objects inspired their zeal, the " greater glory 
of God," and the influence and credit of the order 
of Jesus. If the one motive had somewhat lost in 
power, the other had gained. The epoch of the 
saints and martyrs was passing away ; and hence- 
forth we find the Canadian Jesuit less and less an 
apostle, more and more an explorer, a man of 
science, and a politician. The yearly reports of 
the missions are still, for the edification of the pious 
reader, stuffed Avith intolerably tedious stories of 
baptisms, conversions, and the exemplary deport- 
ment of neophytes ; for these have become a part of 
the formula ; but they are relieved abundantly by 
more mundane topics. One finds observations on the 
winds, currents, and tides of the Great Lakes ; specu- 
lations on a subterranean outlet of Lake Superior ; 
accounts of its copper-mines, and how we, the Jcs- 



28 THE JESUITS ON THE LAKES. [1670-72 

uit fathers, are laboring to explore them for the 
profit of the colony ; surmises touching the North 
Sea, the South Sea, the Sea of China, which we 
hope ere long to discover ; and reports of that great 
mysterious river of which the Indians tell us, — 
flowing southward, perhaps to the Gulf of Mexico, 
perhaps to the Vermilion Sea, — and the secrets 
whereof, with the help of the Virgin, we will soon 
reveal to the world. 

The Jesuit was as often a fanatic for his order as 
for his faith ; and oftener yet, the two fanaticisms 
mingled in him inextricably. Ardently as he 
burned for the saving of souls, he would have none 
saved on the Upper Lakes except by his brethren 
and himself. He claimed a monopoly of conver- 
sion, with its attendant monopoly of toil, hardship, 
and martyrdom. Often disinterested for himself, 
he was inordinately ambitious for the great corpo- 
rate power in which he had merged his own per- 
sonality ; and here lies one cause, among many, of 
the seeming contradictions which abound in the an- 
nals of the order. 

Prefixed to the Belation of 1671 is that monu- 
ment of Jesuit hardihood and enterprise, the map 
of Lake Superior ; a work of which, however, the 
exactness has been exaggerated, as compared with 
other Canadian maps of the day. While making 
surveys, the priests were diligently looking for cop- 
per. Father Dablon reports that they had found it 
in greatest abundance on Isle Minong, now Isle 
Royale. " A day's journey from the head of the 
lake, on the south side, there is," he says, " a rock 



1670 72.] STE. MARIE DU SAUT. 2[) 

of copper weighing from six hundred to eight hun- 
dred pounds, lying on the shore where any who pass 
may see it ; " and he farther speaks of great copper 
boulders in the bed of the Kiver Ontonagan.^ 

There were two princi^Dal missions on the Upper 
f/akes ; which were, in a certain sense, the parents 
of the rest. One of these was Ste. Marie du Saut, — 
the same visited by Dollier and Galinee, — at the out- 
let of Lake Superior. This was a noted fishing- 
place ; for the rapids were full of white-fish, and 
Indians came thither in crowds. The permanent 
residents were an Ojibwa band, called by the French 
Sauteurs, whose bark lodges were clustered at the 
foot of the rapids, near the fort of the Jesuits. 
Besides these, a host of Algonquins, of various 
tribes, resorted thither in the spring and summer ; 
living in abundance on the fishery, and dispersing 
in winter to wander and starve in scattered hunting- 
parties far and wide through the forests. 

1 He complains that the Indians were very averse to giving informa- 
tion on tlie subject, so that the Jesuits liad not as yet discovered tlie metal 
in situ, though they hoped soon to do so. The Indians told him that the 
copper had first been found by four hunters', who had landed on a certain 
island, near the north shore of the lake. Wishing to boil their food in a 
vessel of bark, they gathered stones on the shore, heated them red hot 
and tlirew them in ; but presently discovered them to be pure copper. 
Their repast over, they hastened to re-embark, being afraid of the lynxes 
and tiie hares ; which, on this island, were as large as dogs, and which 
would have devoured their provisions, and perhaps their canoe. They 
took with tliem some of the wonderful stones ; but scarcely had they left 
the island, when a deep voice, like thunder, sounded in their ears, " Wiio 
are tliese thieves who steal the toys of my children 1 " It was the God 
of the Waters, or some other powerful manito. The four adventurers 
retreated in great terror, but three of them soon died, and the fourth sur- 
vived only long enough to reacli his villase and tell the story. The 
island has no foundation, but floats with the movement of the wind; and 
no Indian dares land on its shores, dreading the wrath of the manito. — 
Dablon, Relation, 1670, 84. 

3» 



30 TIIK JESUITS ON THE LAKES. [1670-72 

The other chief mission was that of St. Esprit, 
at La Pointe, near the western extremity of Lake 
Superior. Here were the Hiirons, — fugitives twenty 
years before from the slaughter of their country- 
men ; and the Ottawas, who, Hke them, had sought 
an asyhim from the rage of the L'oquois. INIany 
other tribes, — IlUnois, Pottawattamies, Foxes, Meno- 
monies, Sioux, Assinneboins, Knisteneaux, and a 
multitude besides, — came hither yearly to trade with 
the French. Here was a young Jesuit, Jacques 
Marquette, lately arrived from the Saut Ste. Marie. 
His savage flock disheartened him by its backslid- 
ings : and the best that he could report of the 
Hurons, after all the toils and all the blood lav- 
ished in their conversion, was, that they " still 
retain a little Christianity ; " while the Ottawas are 
" far removed from the kingdom of God, and ad- 
dicted beyond all other tribes to foulness, incanta- 
tions, and sacrifices to evil spirits." ^ 

Marquette heard from the Illinois, — yearly visitors 
at La Pointe, — of the great river which they had 
crossed on their way,^ and which, as he conjee 
tured, flowed into the Gulf of California. He 
heard marvels of it also from the Sioux, who lived 
on its banks ; and a strong desire possessed him, to 
explore the mystery of its course. A sudden calam 

1 Lettre du Pere Jacques Marquette au R. P. Siip&ieiir des Missions ; in 
Relation, 1670, 87. 

'^ The Illinois lived at this time Ibeyond the Mississippi, thirty days' 
journey from La Pointe ; wliither they had been driven by the Iroquois, 
from tlieir former abode near Lake jMichigan. Dablon, {Relation, \&1\; 
24, 25,) says that they lived seven days' journey beyond the Mississippi, 
in eight villages. A few j'ears later, most of tliem returned to tlie east 
side and made t'.- ir abode on the lliver Illinois. 



1670-72.1 MARQUETTE AND ANDRfi. 31 

ity dashed his hopes. The Sioux, — the Iroquois of 
the West, as the Jesuits call them, — had hitherto 
kept the peace with the expatriated tribes of La 
Pointe ; but now, from some cause not worth in- 
quiry, they broke into open war, and so terrified 
the Hurons and Ottawas that they abandoned their 
settlements and fled. Marquette followed his panic- 
stricken flock ; who, passing the Saut Ste. Marie, 
and descending to Lake Huron, stopped, at length, 
— the Hurons at Michillimackinac, and the Ottawas 
at the Great Manatoulin Island. Two missions 
were now necessary to minister to the divided bands. 
That of Michillimackinac was assigned to Mar- 
quette, and that of the Manatoulin Island to Louis 
Andre. The former took post at Point St. Ignace. 
on the north shore of the straits of Michillimack- 
inac, while the latter began the mission of "St. 
Simon at the new abode of the Ottawas. When 
winter came, scattering his flock to their hunting- 
grounds, Andre made a missionary tour among the 
Nipissings and other neighboring tribes. The shores 
of Lake Huron had long been an utter solitude, 
swept of their denizens by the terror of the all- 
conquering Iroquois ; but now that these tigers had 
felt the power of the French, and learned for a 
time to leave their Indian allies in peace, the fugi- 
tive hordes were returning to their ancient abodes. 
Andre's experience among them was of the rough- 
est. The staple of his diet was acorns and tripe 
de roche, — a species of lichen, which, being boiled, 
resolved itself into a black glue, nauseous, but not 
void of nourishment. At times he was reduced to 



32 THE JESUITS ON THE LAKES. 11670-72. 

moss, the bark of trees, or moccasins and old 
moose-skins cut into strips and boiled. His hosts 
treated him very ill, and the worst of their fare was 
always his portion. When spring came to his re- 
lief, he returned to his post of St. Simon, with 
impaired digestion and unabated zeal. 

Besides the Saut Ste. Marie and Michillimack- 
inac, — both noted fishing-places, — there was another 
spot, no less famous for game and fish, and there- 
fore a favorite resort of Indians. This was the 
head of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan.^ Here 
and in adjacent districts several distinct tribes had 
made their abode. The Menomonies were on the 
river which bears their name ; the Pottawattamies 
and Winnebagoes were near the borders of the 
bay; the Sacs on Fox River; the Mascoutins, Mia- 
mis, and Kickapoos, on the same river, above Lake 
Winnebago ; and the Outagamies, or Foxes, on a 
tributary of it flowing from the north. Green Bay 
was manifestly suited for a mission ; and, as early as 
the autumn of 1669, Father Claude Allouez was 
sent thither to found one. After nearly perishing 
by the Avay, he set out to explore the destined field 
of his labors, and went as far as the town of the 
Mascoutins. Early in the autumn of 1670, having 
been joined by Dablon, Superior of the missions 
on the Upper Lakes, he made another journey ; 

1 The Ba3-e des Puans of the early -writers ; or, more correctly, La 
Baye des Eaux Puantes. The Winnebago Indians, living near it, were 
called Les Puans, apparently for no other reason than because some por- 
tion of the bay was said to have an odor like the sea. 

Lake Michigan, the Lac des Illinois of the French, was, according to a 
letter of Father Allouez, called Machihiganing by the Indians. Dablon 
writes the name. Mitchiganon. 



IG70-72.] THE GREEN BAY MISSION. o3 

but not until the two fathers had held a council 
with the congregated tribes at St. Fran9ois Xavier, 
— for so they named their mission of Green Bay. 
Here, as they harangued their naked audience, 
their gravity was put to the proof ; for a band of 
warriors, anxious to do them honor, walked inces- 
santly up and down, aping the movements of the 
soldiers on guard before the Governor's tent at Mont- 
real. " We could hardly keep from laughing, " 
writes Dablon, ''thgiigh5a^\vere discoursing on 
very importau^^^^^dRAd^^^^the mysteries of 
our religionV/anothe things necessary to escaping 
from eternaQc&re." ^ itjj 

The fathei^Mere delighte(3jC^th the country, 
which Dablon^il^g^flF^gpiy paradise ; but he 
adds that the way to it is as hard as the path to 
heaven. He alludes especially to the rapids of 
Fox River, which gave the two travellers great 
trouble. Having safely passed them, they saw an 
Indian idol on the bank, similar to that which 
Dollicr and GaUnee found at Detroit ; being merely 
a rock, bearing some resemblance to a man, and 
hideously painted. "With the help of their at- 
tendants, they threw it into the river. Dablon 
expatiates on the buifalo ; which he describes ap- 
parently on the report of others, as his description 
is not very accurate. Crossing Winnebago Lake, 
the two priests followed the river leading to the 
town of the Mascoutins and Miamis, whic;h they 
reached on the fifteenth of September.^ These two 

1 Relation, 1671, 43. 

2 Tliis town was on the Neenah or Fox River, abave Lake Winne- 
bago. Tlie Mascoutins, Fire Nation, or Nation of the Prairie, are extinct 



34 THE JESUITS ON THE LAKES. [1670-71:. 

tribes lived together within the compass of the 
same inclosure of palisades ; to the number, it is 
said, of more than three thousand souls. The 
missionaries, who had brought a highly-colored 
picture of the Last Judgment, called the Indians 
to council and displayed it before them ; while 
Allouez, who spoke Algonquin, harangued them 
on hell, demons, and eternal flames. They listened 
with open ears, beset him night and day with 
questions, and invited him and his companion to 
unceasing feasts. They M^ere welcomed in every 
lodge, and followed everywhere Avith eyes of curi- 
osity, wonder, and awe. Uablon overflows with 
pi-aises of the Miami chief; who was honored by 
his subjects like a king, and whose demeanor to 
wards his guests had no savor of the savage. 

Their hosts told them of the great river Missis 
sippi, rising far in the north and flowing southward, 
— they knew not whither, — and of many tribes that 
dwelt along its banks. Wlicn at length they took 
their departure, they left behind them a reputation 
as medicine-men of transcendent power. 

In the winter following,* Allouez visited the 
Foxes, whom he found in extreme ill-humor. 
They were incensed against the French by the 
ill-usage which some of their tribe had lately met 
with when on a trading-visit to INlontreal ; and they 
received the faith with shouts of derision. The 
priest was horror-stricken at what he saw. Their 



or merged in otlier tribes,. — See " Jesuits in North America." Tho 
Miamis soon removed to tlie banks of tiie River St. Joseph, near Lake 
Michigan. 



1670-72.1 THE CROSS AMONG THE FOXES. 35 

lodges, — each containing from five to ten families, 
— seemed in his eyes Hke seragHos ; for some of the 
chiefs had eight wives. He armed himself with 
patience, and at length gained a hearing. Nay, he 
succeeded so well, that when he showed them his 
crucifix, they would throw tobacco on it as an 
off"ering ; and, on another visit, which he made 
them soon after, he taught the whole village to 
make the sign of the cross. A war-party was going 
out against their enemies, and he bethought him 
of telling them the story of the Cross and the 
Emperor Constantine. This so wrought upon them 
that they all daubed the figure of a cross on their 
shields of bull-hide, set out for the war, and came 
back \'ictorious, extolling the sacred symbol as a 
great Avar-medicine. 

" Thus it is," writes Dablon, who chronicles the 
incident, " that our holy faith is established among 
these people ; and we have good hope that we 
shall soon carry it to the famous river called the 
Mississippi, and perhaps even to the South Sea."^ 
Most things human have their phases of the 
ludicrous ; and the heroism of these untiring priests 
is no exception to the rule. 

The various missionary stations Avere much alike. 
They consisted of a cha])el (commonly of logs) and 
one or more houses, with perhaps a storehouse 
and a workshop, — the whole fenced with palisades, 
and forming, in fact, a stockade fort, surrounded 
with clearings and cultivated fields. It is evident 

> Rtlallon, 1072, -12. 



36 THE JESUITS ON THE LAKES. 11070-72. 

that the priests had need of other hands than thehr 
own and those of the few lay brothers attached to 
the mission. Tliey required men inured to labor, 
accustomed to the forest life, able to guide canoes 
and handle tools and weapons. In the earlier 
ejjoch of the missions, when enthusiasm was at its 
height, they were served in great measure by 
volunteers, who joined them through devotion or 
penitence, and who were known as donnes^ or 
" given men." Of late, the number of these had 
much diminished ; and they now relied chiefly on 
hired men, or engages. These were employed in 
building, hunting, fishing, clearing and tilling the 
ground, guiding canoes, and if faith is to be placed 
in reports current throughout the colony in trading 
with the Indians for the profit of the missions. 
This charge of trading — which, if the results were 
applied exclusively to the support of the missions, 
does not of necessity involve much censure — is 
vehemently reiterated in many quarters, including 
the official despatches of the Governor of Canada ; 
while, so far as I can discover, the Jesuits never 
distinctly denied it ; and, on several occasions, they 
])artially admitted its truth. ^ 

1 Tliis charge was made from the first establishment of the missions, 
t'or remarks on it, see " Jesuits in Nortli America." 



CHAPTER IV. 

1667-1672. 
FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION OF THE WEST. 

Taloit. — Sr.Lrssox. — Perrot. — TnE CEnnAioxY at Saut Ste. Marie. -■ 
The Speech of Allouez. — Couxx Frojjtenac. 

Jean Talon, Intendant of Canada, was a man of 
no common stamp. Able, vigorous, and patriotic, — 
he was the worthy lieutenant and disciple of the 
great minister Colbert, the ill-requited founder of 
the prosperity of Louis XIV. He cherished high 
hopes for the future of New France, and labored 
strenuously to realize them. He urged upon the 
king a scheme which, could it have been accom- 
plished, would have wrought strange changes on 
the American continent. This was, to gain pos- 
session of New York, by treaty or conquest ; ^ thus 
giving to Canada a southern access to the ocean, 
open at all seasons, separating New England from 
Virginia, and controlling the Iroquois, the most 
formidable enemy of the French colony. Louis 
XIV. held the king of England in his pay ; and, 
had the proposal been urged, the result could not 

1 Lettre de Talon a Colbert, 27 Oct. 1GG7. Twenty years after, the 
plan was again suggested by the Governor, Denonville. 

4 



38 FRANCE TvVKES POSSESSION, ETC. [1GG7-70. 

have been foretold. The scheme failed, and Talon 
prepared to use his present advantages to the 
utmost. While laboring strenuously to develop the 
industrial resources of the colony, he addressed 
himself to discovering and occupying the interior 
of the continent ; controlling the rivers, which ^\ere 
its only highways ; and securing it for Fiance 
against every other nation. On the east, England 
was to be hemmed within a narrow strip of sea- 
board ; while, on the south, Talon aimed at securing 
a port on the Gulf of Mexico, to hold the Spaniards 
in check, and dispute with them the possession of 
the vast regions which they claimed as their own. 
But the interior of the continent was still an un- 
known world. It behooved him to explore it ; and 
to that end he availed himself of Jesuits, officers, 
fur-traders, and enterprising schemers like La Salle. 
His efforts at discovery seem to have been con- 
ducted with a singular economy of the king's purse. 
La Salle paid all the expenses of his first expedi- 
tion made under Talon's auspices ; and apparently 
of the second also, though the Intendant announces it 
in his despatches as an expedition sent out by him^ 
self.^ When, in 1670, he ordered Daumont de St. 
Lusson to search for copper-mines on Lake Superior, 
and, at the same time, to take formal possession of 



1 At all events, La Salle was in great need of money about the time of 
his second journey. On the sixtli of August, 1G71, he had received on 
credit, " dans son grand besoin et ne'cessite," from Branssat, fiscal attorney 
of the Seminary, mercliandise to tlie amount of four hundred and fifty 
livres ; and, on the eighteenth of December of the following year, he gave 
his promise to pay the same sum, in money or furs, in th.e August fol- 
lowing. Faillon found the papers ia the ancient records of Montreal. 



1G70. 



ST. LUSSON AND PEIIROT. 39 



the whole interior for the king; it was arranged 
that he should pay the costs of the journey by 
trading with the Indians.^ 

St. Lusson set out with a small party of men, 
and Nicolas Perrot as his interpreter. Among 
Canadian voycif/eurs, few names are so conspicuous 
as that of Perrot ; not because there were not others 
who matched him in achievement, but because he 
could write, and left behind him a tolerable account 
of what he had seen.^ He was at this time twenty- 
six years old, and had formerly been an engage of 
the Jesuits. He was a man of enterprise, courage, 
and address ; the last being especially shown in his 
dealings with Indians, over whom he had great 
influence. He spoke Algonquin fluently, and was 
favorably known to many tribes of that family. St. 
Lusson wintered at the Manatoulin Islands ; while 
Perrot — having first sent messages to the tribes of 
the north, inviting them to meet the deputy of the 
Governor at the Saut Ste. Marie in the following 
spring — proceeded to Green Bay, to urge the same 
invitation upon the tribes of that quarter. They 
knew him ^vell, and greeted him with clamors of 
welcome. The Miamis, it is said, received him with 
a sham battle, which was designed to do him honor, 
hut by which nerves more susceptible would have 



1 In his despatch of 2J Nov. 1071, Talon writes to the king that " St. 
Lusson's expeditiv)n will cost nothing, as he has received beaver enough 
fi-on» the Indians to pay him." 

2 jl/oe//;-.e, Coiist.aine.'i, et RtUlrjion des Sannmjes de I'Am^riqite K^epten- 
(rionale. This work of Perrot, hitherto unpublished, appeared m 1864, 
under the editorship of i'alher Tailhau, S.J. A great part of it is incor- 
porated in La Poriierie. 



40 FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION, ETC. [1G70-71 

been severely shaken.^ They entertained him also 
with a grand game of la crosse, the Indian ball- 
play. Perrot gives a marvellous account of the 
authority and state of the Miami chief; who, he 
says, was attended day and night by a guard of 
warriors, — an assertion which would be incredible 
were it not sustained by the account of the same 
chief given by the Jesuit Dablon. Of the tribes 
of the Bay, the greater part promised to send dele- 
gates to the Saut ; but the Pottawattamies dissuaded 
the Miami potentate from attempting so long a 
journey, lest .the fatigue incident to it might injure 
his health ; and he therefore deputed them to rep- 
resent him and his tribesmen at the great meeting. 
Their principal chiefs, with "those of the Sacs, Win- 
nebagoes, and Menoraonies, embarked, and paddled 
for the place of rendezvous ; where they and Perrot 
arrived on the fifth of ]\Iay.- 

St. Lusson was here with his men, fifteen in num 
her, among whom was Louis Joliet;" and Indians 
were fast thronging in from their wintering grounds; 
attracted, as usual, by the fishery of the rapids, or 
moved by the messages sent by Perrot, — Crees, iSIon- 
sonis, Amikoiies, Nipissings, and many more. When 
fourteen tribes, or their representatives, had arrived, 
St. Lusson prepared to execute the commission with 
which he was charged. 

^ See La Potherie, ii. 125. Perrot himself does not mention it. Ch.irle- 
voix erroneously places this interview at Ciiicago. Perrot's narrative 
shows that he tliJ not go farther than the tribes of Green Baj' ; anJ the 
Miamis were tlien, as we have seen, on the upper part of Tex River. 

- Perrot, Memoires, 127. 

3 Proces Verbal de la Prise de Possession, etc., 14 Juin, 1671. The 
names are attached to this instrument. 



1671.1 CEREMONY AT THE SAUT. 41 

At the foot of the rapids was the village of the 
Saiitcurs, above the village was a hill, and hard by 
stood the fort of the Jesuits. On the morning of 
the fourteenth of June, St. Lusson led his followers 
to the top of the hill, all fully equipped and under 
arms. Here, too, in the vestments of their priestly 
office, were four Jesuits, — Claude Dablon, Superior 
of the Missions of the Lakes, Gabriel Druilletes, 
Claude Allouez, and Louis Andre. ^ All around, 
the great throng of Indians stood, or crouched, or 
reclined at length, with eyes and ears intent. A 
large cross of wood had been made ready. Dablon, 
in solemn form, pronounced his blessing un it ; and 
then it was reared and planted in the ground, while 
the Frenchmen, uncovered, sang the Vexilla Hejrjis. 
Then a post of cedar was planted beside it, with 
a metal plate attached, engraven with the royal 
arms ; while St. Lusson's followers sang the Ex- 
audiat and one of the Jesuits uttered a prayer 
for the king. St. Lusson now advanced, and, hold- 
ing his sword in one hand, and raising with the 
other a sod of earth, proclaimed in a loud voice, — 

" In the name of the Most High, Mighty, and Re- 
doubted Monarch, Louis, Fourteenth of that name, 
Most Christian King of France and of Navarre, I 
take jiossession of this place, Sainte Marie du Saut, 
as also of Lakes Huron and Superior, the Island of 
Manatoulin, and all countries, rivers, lakes, and 
streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto ; both 



1 Marquette is said to have been present ; but the oiEcial act, jus', uiied 
proves the contrary. He was still at St. Esfjrit. 

4* 



42 FKAJNCE TAKES POSSESSION, ETC. [1C71. 

those which have heen discovered and those which 
may be discovered hereafter, in all their length and 
breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the 
North and of the West, and on the other by the 
South Sea : declaring to the nations thereof that 
from this time forth they are vassals of his Ma- 
jesty, bound to obey his laws and follow his cus- 
toms : promising them on his part all succor and 
protection against the incursions and invasions of 
their enemies : declaring to all other potentates, 
princes, sovereigns, states and republics, — to them 
and their subjects, — that they cannot and are not to 
seize or settle upon any parts of the aforesaid coun- 
tries, save only under the good pleasure of His jNIost 
Christian INIajcsty, and of him who will govern in 
his behalf; and this on pain of incurring his re- 
sentment and the efforts of his arms. Vive le 
Roir' 

The Frenchmen fired their guns and shouted 
" Yive le Hoi,'" and the yelps of the astonished In- 
dians mingled with the din. 

What now remains of the sovereignty thus 
pompously proclaimed'? Noav and then, the ac- 
cents of France on the lips of some straggling boat- 
man or vagabond half-breed ; — this, and nothing 
more. 

W^hen the uproar was over. Father Allouez ad- 
dressed the Indians in a solemn harangue ; and 
these were his words : " It is a good work, my 
brothers, an important work, a great work, that 
brings us together in council to-day. Look up at 

1 Prods Verbal de la Prise de Possession. 



1671.] ST. LUSSON'S HARANGUE. 43 

the cross which rises so high above your heads. It 
Avas there that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, after 
making himself a man for the love of men, was 
nailed and died, to satisfy his Eternal Father for 
our sins. He is the master of our lives ; the ruler 
of Heaven, Earth, and Hell. It is he of whom I 
am continually speaking to you, and whose name 
and Avord I have borne through all your country. 
But look at this post to which are fixed the air^s 
of the great chief of France, whom we call King. 
He lives across the sea. He is the chief of the 
greatest chiefs, and has no equal on earth. All the 
chiefs whom you have ever seen are but children 
beside him. He is like a great tree, and they are 
but the little herbs that one walks over and tram- 
ples under foot. You know Onontio,^ that famous 
chief at Quebec ; you know and you have seen that 
he is the terror of the Iroquois, and that his very 
name makes them tremble, since he has laid their 
country waste and burned their towns with fire. 
Across the sea there are ten thousand Onontios like 
him, who are but the warriors of our great King, of 
whom I have told you. When he says, ' I am going 
to war,' everybody obeys his orders ; and each of 
these ten thousand chiefs raises a troop of a hun- 
dred warriors, some on sea and some on land. 
Some embark in great ships, such as you have seen 
at Quebec. Your canoes carry only four or five 
men, or at the most, ten or twelve ; but our ships 
carry four or five hundred, and sometimes a thou- 
sand. Others go to war by land, and in such num- 

1 The Indian name of tlie Governor of Canada. 



44 FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION, ETC. [1G71. 

bers that if they stood in a double file they would 
reach from here to Mississaquenk, Avhich is more 
than twenty leagues off. When our King attacks 
his enemies, he is more terrible than the thunder : 
the earth trembles ; the air and the sea aie all on 
fire with the blaze of his cannon : he is seen in the 
midst of his warriors, covered over with the blood 
of his enemies, whom he kills in such numbers, 
that he does not reckon them by the scalps, but by 
the streams of blood which he causes to flow. He 
takes so marly prisoners that he holds them in no 
account, but lets them go where they will, to show 
that he is not afraid of them. But now nobody 
dares make war on him. All the nations beyond 
the sea have submitted to him and begged humbly 
for peace. Men come from every quarter of the 
earth to listen to him and admire him. All that is 
done in the world is decided by him alone. 

But what shall I say of his riches ] You think 
yourselves rich when vou have ten or twelve sacks 
of corn, a few hatchets, beads, kettles, and other 
things of that sort. He has cities of his own, 
more than there are of men in all this country for 
five hundred leagues around. In each city there 
are store-houses where there are hatchets enough 
to cut down all your forests, kettles enough to cook 
all your moose, and beads enough to fill all your 
lodiics. • His house is lonc^er than from here to the 
top of the Saut, — that is to say, more than half a 
league, — and higher than your tallest trees ; and 
it holds more families than the largest of your 



1671-72.] TALON AND COURCELLES. 45 

towns." ^ The Father added more in a similar 
strain ; but the peroration of his harangue is not on 
record. 

AVhatever impression this curious effort of Jesuit 
rhetoric may have produced upon the hearers, it 
did not prevent them from stripping the royal arms 
from the post to which they Avere nailed, as soon as 
St. Lusson and his men had left the Saut ; proba 
bly, not because they understood the import of the 
symbol, but because they feared it as a charm. St. 
Lusson proceeded to Lake Superior ; where, how- 
ever, he accomplished nothing, except, perhaps, a 
traffic with the Indians on his own account ; and he 
soon after returned to Quebec. Talon was resolved 
to find the Mississippi, the most interesting object 
of search, and seemingly the most attainable, in the 
wild and vague domain which he had just claimed 
for the king. The Indians had described it ; the 
Jesuits were eager to discover it ; and La Salle, if 
he had not reached it, had explored two several 
avenues by which it might be approached. Talon 
looked about him for a fit agent of the enterprise, 
and made choice of Louis Joliet, who had returned 
from Lake Superior." But the Intendant was not 
to see the fulfilment of his design. His busy and 
useful career in Canada was drawing to an end 
A misunderstanding had arisen between him and 
the Governor, Courcelles. Both were able and pub- 

^ A close translation of Dablon's report of the speech. See Iiehitioii, 
1671, 27. 

- Lettre de Frontenac au Miiihlre, 2 Nov. 1G72, MS. In the Brodhead 
Collection, by a copyist's error, tlic name of tlie Clievalier de Graiidtnn- 
taiue is substituted for that of Talon. 



46 FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION, ETC. [1G72. 

lie-spirited ; but the relations between the two chiefs 
of the colony were of a nature necessarily so criti- 
cal, that a conflict of authority was scarcely to be 
avoided. The Governor presided at the council, 
and held the military command ; the Intendant 
directed affairs of justice, finance, and commerce. 
Each thought his functions encroached upon, and 
both asked for recall.^ Another governor suc- 
ceeded ; one who was to stamp his mark, broad, 
bold, and ineffaceable, on the most memorable page 
of French- American History. 

In the Church of Notre Dame, at Quebec, on a 
day in the early autumn of 1672, the priests were 
singing Te Deum for the safe arrival of him whom 
they were soon to wish beyond the sea again, or 
beneath it. Here you would have seen the ' new 
governor surrounded by officers, and by the chief 
inhabitants, anxious to pay their court ; a tall man 
in the pompous garb of a military noble of that 
gorgeous reign, well advanced in middle life, but 
whose high keen features, full of intellect and fire, 
bespoke his prompt undaunted nature, — Louis de 
Buade, Count of Palluau and Frontenac. He be- 
longed to the high nobility, had held important 
commands, and, if the song-writers of his time 
speak true, had anticipated the king in the favors 
of Madame de Montespan.- His wife, who 

1 Courcelles returned home on the plea of ill health. Talon remained 
a little longer ; but soon asked leave to return to France, seeing that ho 
should fare worse witli the new governor than with the old. 

2 See Brunet, in notes to Corrcspomhtnce de Id Duchesse d' Orleans; Pau- 
lin, in notes to the Ilistoriclles de Tal/emeiit das Reaux; and Margry, in 
Journal General de I' Instruction PttUique. 



1G72.] FRONTENAC. 47 

could not endure him — and the aversion seems to 
have been mutual — was a noted beauty of the 
court, and held great influence in its brilliant and 
corrupt society.^ Frontenac was full of faults ; 
but it is not throucfh these that his memorv has 
survived him. He was domineering, arbitrary, in- 
tolerant of opposition, irascible, vehement in preju- 
dice, often wayward, perverse, and jealous : a 
persecutor of those who crossed him ; yet capable, 
by fits, of moderation, and a magnanimous lenity ; 
and gifted with a rare charm — not always exerted 
— to win the attachment of men : versed in books, 
polished in courts and salons ; without fear, incapa- 
ble of repose, keen and broad of sight, clear in 
judgment, prompt in decision, fruitful in resources, 
unshaken when others despahed ; a sure breeder of 
storms in time of peace, but in time of calamity 
and danger a tower of strength. His early career 
in America was beset with ire and enmity ; but 
admiration and gratitude hailed him at its close : 
for it was he who saved the colony and led it 
triumphant from an abyss of ruin." 



^ St. Simon and Mademoiselle de Montpdnsier give very curious ac- 
counts of Madame de Frontenac, who is also mentioned in tlie Ltttres de 
Mtulanie de Sevlgne. Iler portrait will be found at Versailles. 

2 In the Library of the Seminary of Quebec is preserved the funeral 
oration pronounced over the body of Frontenac by Olivier Go^er, a 
llecoUet friar. It is a bhnd and wliolesale panegyric, but it is inteilined 
with notes and comments at great length, by some otiier ecclesiastic, a 
bitter enemy of the Governor. He is vindictive and acrimonious beyond 
measure ; but, between the two, a good deal of truth is struck out. Cliarle- 
voi.x's estimate of Frontenac is admirably candid, when it is remembered 
that he writes of an enemy of his Order. The career of Frontenac, his 
letters, and those of his enemies, — of which many are preserved, — are. 
however, his best interpretation. 



CHAPTER V. 

1 672-1 G75. 
THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPL 

JOLIET SENT TO FIND THE MlSSISSIPn. — JACQUES jMarQUETTE. — DEPAR- 
TURE. — Gkeen Bay. — The ^Vlsco^•SI^•. — The Mississippi. — Ixdiass. 
— Manitous. — The Arkansas. — The Illinois. — Joltet's Misfor- 
tune. — Marquette at Chicago. — His Illness. — His Death. 

If Talon had remained in the colony, Frontenac 
would infallibly have quarrelled. with him ; but he 
was too clear-sighted not to approve his plans for 
the discovery and occupation of the interior. Be- 
fore sailing for France, Talon recommended Joliet 
as a suitable agent for the discovery of the Missis- 
sippi, and the Governor accepted his counsel.-^ 

Louis Joliet was the son of a wagon-maker in 
the service of the Company of the Hundred Asso- 
ciates,^ then owners of Canada. He was born at 
Quebec in 16-i5, was educated by the Jesuits ; and, 
when still very young, he resolved to be a priest. 
He received the tonsure and the minor orders at 
the age of seventeen. Four years after, he is men- 
tioned with especial honor for the part he bore in 

1 Letlre de Frontenac an M'tnistre, 2 Nov. 1672 ; Ihid 14 Nov. 1674. 
MSS. 

'^ See " Jesuits in Nortli America." 



1G73.] JOLIET. 49 

the disputes in philosophy, at which the dignitaries 
of the colony were present, and in which the 
Intendant himself took part.^ Not long after, he 
renounced his clerical vocation, and turned fur- 
trader. Talon sent him, with one Pere, to explore 
the copper-mines of Lake Superior ; and it was on 
liis return from this expedition, that he met La Salle 
and the Sulpitians near the /head of Lake Ontario.^ 

In what we know of Joliet, there is nothing that 
reveals any salient or distinctive trait of character, 
any especial breadth of view or boldness of design. 
He appears to have been simply a merchant, intel- 
ligent, well educated, courageous, hardy, and enter- 
prising. Though he had renounced the priesthood, 
he retained his partiality for the Jesuits ; and it is 
more than probable that their influence had aided 
not a little to determine Talon's choice. One of 
their number, Jacques Marquette, was chosen to 
accompany him. 

He passed up the lakes to Michillimackinac ; and 
found his destined companion at Point St. Ignace, 
on the north side of the strait ; where, in his pali- 



1 "Le 2 Juillet (166G) les premieres disputes de philosophie se font 
dans la congregation avec succes. Toutes les puissances s'y trouvent; 
M. rintendant entr'autres y a argumente trcs-bien. M. Jollict et Pierre 
Francheville y out tres-bien re'pondu de toute la logique." — Journal chs 
Je'viiies, MS. 

2 Nothing was known of Joliet till Shea investigated his history. 
Ferlaud, in his Notes siir les Rec/istres de Nolre-Dame de Qnebcc ; Faillon, in 
Ills Colonie FranQuise en Canada; and Margry, in a series of papers in the 
Journal G(fn^ral dc I'lnstrticfion Piibllqiie, — have thrown much new light on 
his life. From journals of a voyage made by him at a later period to the 
coast of Labrador, — given in substance by INIargrj', — he seems to have 
been a man of close and intelligent observation. His mathematical ac- 
quirements appear to have been very considerable. 

5 



50 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. [1673, 

saded mission-house and chapel, he had labored for 
two years past to instruct the Huron refugees from 
St. Esprit, and a band of Ottawas who had joined 
them. Marquette was born in 1637, of an old and 
honorable family at Laon, in the north of France, 
and was now thirty-five years of age. When about 
seventeen, he had joined the Jesuits, evidently from 
motives purely religious ; and in 1666 he was sent 
to the missions of Canada. At first he was destined 
to the station of Tadoussac ; and, to prepare himself 
for it, he studied the Montagnais language under 
Gabriel Druilletes. But his destination was changed, 
and he was sent to the Upper Lakes in 1668, where 
he had since remained. His talents as a linguist 
must have been great ; for, within a few years, he 
learned to speak with ease six Indian languages. 
The traits of his character are unmistakable. He 
was of the brotherhood of the early Canadian mis- 
sionaries, and the true counterpart of Garnier or 
Jogues. He was a devout votary of the Virgin 
Mary ; who, imaged to his mind in shapes of the 
most transcendent loveliness with which the pencil 
of human genius has ever informed the canvas, was 
to him the object of an adoration not unmingled 
with a sentiment of chivalrous devotion. The long- 
ings of a sensitive heart, divorced from earth, sought 
solace in the skies. A subtile element of romance 
Avas blended with the fervor of his v/orship, and 
hung like an illumined cloud over the harsh and 
hard realities of his daily lot. Kindled by the smile 
of his celestial mistress, his gentle and noble nature 
knew no fear. For her he burned to dare and to 



1673.] DEPARTURE. 51 

suffer, discover new lands and conquer new realms 
to her sway. 

He begins the journal of his voyage thus : " The 
day of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy 
Virgin; whom I had continually invoked, since I 
came to this country of the Ottawas, to obtain from 
God the favor of being enabled to visit the nations 
on the river Mississippi — this very day was precise- 
ly that on which M. Joliet arrived with orders from 
Count Frontenac, our Governor, and from M. Talon, 
our Intendant, to go with me on this discovery. I 
was all the more delighted at this good news, be- 
cause I saw my plans about to be accomplished, 
and found myself in the happy necessity of exposing 
my life for the salvation of all these tribes ; and 
especially of the Illinois, who, when I was at Point 
St. Esprit, had begged me very earnestly to bring 
the word of God among them." 

The outfit of the travellers was very simple. 
They provided themselves with two birch canoes, 
and a supply of smoked meat and Indian corn ; em- 
barked with five men ; and began their voyage on 
the seventeenth of May. They had obtained all 
possible information from the Indians, and had 
made, by means of it, a species of map of their 
intended route. " Above all," writes Marquette, 
*' I placed our voyage under the protection of the 
Holy Virgin Immaculate, promising that if she 
granted us the favor of discovering the great river, 
I would give it the name of the Conception," ' Their 

1 Tlic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, sanctioned in our own 
time by the Tope, was always a favorite tenet of the .Jesuits • and Alar- 
quette was especially devoted to it. 



52 TflE DISCOVERY OF THE MlSSISSIPn. [1C73 

course was westward ; and, plying their paddles, 
they passed the Straits of Michillimackinac, and 
coasted the northern shores of Lake Michigan ; 
landing at evening to build their camp-fire at the 
edge of the forest, and draw up their canoes ou 
the strand. They soon reached the river Meno- 
monie, and ascended it to the village of the Menomo- 
nies, or Wild-rice Indians.^ When they told*them 
the object of their voyage, they were filled with 
astonishment, and used their best ingenuity to dis- 
suade them. The banks of the Mississippi, they 
said, were inhabited by ferocious tribes, Avho put 
every stranger to death, tomahawking all new-com- 
ers without cause or provocation. They added 
that there was a demon in a certain part of the 
river, whose roar could be heard at a great distance, 
and who would engulf them in the abyss where 
he dwelt ; that its waters were full of frightful 
monsters, who would devour them and their canoe ; 
and, finally, that the heat was so great that they 
Avould perish inevitably. Marquette set their counsel 
at naught, gave them a few words of instruction in 
the mysteries of the Faith, taught them a prayer, 
and bade them farewell. 

The travellers soon reached the mission at the 
head of Green Bay ; entered the Fox Kiver ; with 
(Hificulty and labor dragged their canoes up the 
long and tumultuous rapids ; crossed Lake Win- 



1 The Mallioumines, Malouminek, Oumalouminek, or Nation des 
Follos-Avoines, of early French writers. The foUe-avoine, wild oats or 
" wild rice," — Zizania aquatka, — was their ordinary food, as alfo of othei 
tribes of tliis reiiion. 



1673.] MASCOUTINS; MIAMIS. 53 

nebago ; and followed the quiet windings of the 
river beyond, Avhere they glided through an endless 
growth of wild rice, and scared the innumerable 
birds that fed upon it. On either hand rolled the 
prairie, dotted with groves and trees, browsing elk 
and deer.^ On the seventh of June, they reached 
(he Mascoutins and Miamis, who, since the visit of 
Dablon and Allouez, had been joined by the Kick- 
apoos. Marquette, who had an eye for natural 
beauty, was delighted with the situation of the town, 
which he describes as standing on the crown of a 
hill ; while, all around, the prairie stretched beyond 
the sight, interspersed with groves and belts of tall 
forest. But he was still more delighted when he 
saw a cross planted in the midst of the place. The 
Indians had decorated it with a number of dressed 
deer-skins, red girdles, and bows and arrows, which 
they had hung upon it as an offering to the Great 
Manitou of the French, — a sight by which, as Mar- 
quette says, he was •' extremely consoled." 

The travellers had no sooner reached the town 
than they called the chiefs and elders to a council. 
Joliet told them that the Governor of Canada had 
sent him to discover new countries, and that God 
had sent his companion to teach the true faith to 
the inhabitants ; and he prayed for guides to sho\v 
them the Avay to the waters of the Wisconsin. The 
council readily consented ; and on the tenth of June 



J Dablon, on his journey with Allouez in 1670, was delighted with the 
aspect of tlie country and the abundance of game along tliis river. Carver, 
a century later, speaks to tiie same effect, — saying the birds rose up in 
clouds from the wild-rice marshes. 

6* 



54 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIITI. [1G73. 

the Frenchmen embarked again, with two Indians 
to conduct them. All the town came down to 
the shore to see their departure. Here were the 
Miamis, with long locks of hair dangling over each 
ear, after a fashion which Marquette thought very 
becoming ; and here, too, the Mascoutins and the 
Kickapoos, whom he describes as mere boors in 
comparison with their Miami townsmen. All stared 
alike at the seven adventurers, marvelling that men 
could be found to risk an enterprise so hazardous. 

The river twisted among lakes and marshes 
choked with wild rice ; and, but for their guides, 
they could scarcely have followed the perplexed 
and narrow channel. It brought them at last to 
the portage ; where, after carrying their canoes a 
mile and a half over the prairie and through the 
marsh, they launched them on the Wisconsin, bade 
farewell to the waters that flowed to the St. Law- 
rence, and committed themselves to the current 
that Avas to bear them they knew not whither, — 
perhaps to the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps to the 
South Sea or the Gulf of California. They glided 
calmly down tlie tranquil stream, by. islands choked 
with trees and matted with entangling grape-vines ; 
by forests, groves, and prairies, — the parks and 
pleasure-grounds of a prodigal nature ; by thickets 
and marshes and broad bare sand-bars ; under the 
shadowing trees, between whose tops looked down 
from afar the bold brow of some woody bluff. At 
night, the bivouac, — the canoes inverted on the 
bank, the flickering fire, the meal of bison-flesh 
or venison, the evening pipes, and slumber beneath 



1673.] THE MlSSISSIPn. 55 

the stars : and when in the morning they embarked 
again, the mist hung on the river Uke a bridal veil ; 
tlien melted before the smi, till the glassy water 
and the languid woods basked breathless in the 
sultry glare. ^ 

On the 17th of June, they saw on their right 
the broad meadows, bounded in the distance by 
rugged hills, where now stand the town and fort 
of Prairie du Chien. Before them, a wide and 
rapid current coursed athwart their way, by the 
foot of lofty heights wrapped thick in forests 
They had found what they sought, and " with a 
joy," writes Marquette, " which I cannot express," 
they steered forth their canoes on the eddies of the 
Mississippi. 

Turning southward, they paddled down the 
stream, through a solitude unrelieved by the faint- 
est trace of man. A large fish, apparently one of 
the huge cat-fish of the Mississippi, blundered 
against Marquette's canoe with a force which 
seems to have startled him ; and once, as they 
drew in their net, they caught a " spade-fish," 
whose eccentric appearance greatly astonished 
them. At length, the buffalo began to appear, 
grazing in herds on the great prairies which then 
bordered the river ; and Marquette describes the 
fierce and stupid look of the old bulls, as they 
stared at the intruders through the tangled mane 
which nearly blinded them. 

They advanced with extreme caution, landed at 

1 The above traits of the scenery of the Wisconsin are taken from per 
•onal observation of the river during midsummer. 



56 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MlSSISSIPri. [1673. 



night, and made a fire to cook tlieir evening meal ; 
then extinguished it, embarked again, paddled some 
way farther, and anchored in the stream, keeping 
a man on the watch till morning. They had jour- 
neyed more than a fortnight without meeting a 
human being ; when, on the 25th, they discovered 
footprints of men in the mud of the western bank, 
and a well-trodden path that led to the adjacent 
prairie. Joliet and Marquette resolved to follow 
it ; and, leaving the canoes in charge of their men, 
they set out on their hazardous adventure. The 
day was fan-, and they walked two leagues in 
silence, following the path through the forest and 
across the sunny j^rairie, till they discovered an 
Indian village on the banks of a river, and two 
others on a hill half a league distant.^ Now, with 
beating hearts, they invoked the aid of Heaven, 
and, again advancing, came so near without being 
seen, that they could hear the voices of the Indians 
among the wigwams. Then they stood forth in 
full view, and shouted, to attract attention. There 
was great commotion in the village. The inmates 
swarmed out of their huts, and four of their chief 
men presently came forward to meet the strangers, 
advancing very deliberately, and holding up toward 
the sun two calumets, or peace-pipes, decorated 
with feathers. They stopped abruptly before the 
two Frenchmen, and stood gazing at them with 



1 The Indian villages, under tlie names of Peouaria (Peoria) and Moin- 
gouena, are represented in Marquette's map upon a river corresponding in 
position witli tlie Des Moines ; though tlie distance from the Wisconsin, 
as given by him, would indicate a river farther north. 



1673. J THE ILLINOIS INDIANS. 57 

attention, without speaking a word. Marquette 
was mucli relieved on seeing that they wore French 
cloth, whence he judged that they must be friends 
and allies. lie broke the silence, and asked tliem 
who they were ; whereupon they answered that 
they were Illinois, and offered the pipe ; which 
lia\'ing been duly smoked, they all went together 
to the village. Here the chief received the travel- 
lers after a singular fashion, meant to do them 
honor. He stood stark naked at the door of a 
large wigwam, holding up both hands as if to 
shield his eyes. " Frenchmen, how bright the 
sun shines when you come to. visit us ! All our 
village awaits you ; and you shall enter our Avig- 
wams in peace." So saying, he led them into his 
own ; which was crowded to suffocation with sav- 
ages, staring at their guests in silence. Having 
smoked with the chiefs and old men, they were 
invited to visit the great chief of all the Illinois, at 
one of the villages they had seen in tlie distance ; 
and thither they proceeded, followed by a throng 
of warriors, squaws, and children. On arriving, 
they were forced to smoke again, and listen to a 
speech of welcome from the great chief; who de- 
livered it, standing between two old men, naked 
like himself. His lodge was crowded with the 
dignitaries of the tribe ; whom Marquette addressed 
in Algonquin, announcing himself as a messengc;r 
sent by the God who had made them, and wliom it 
behooved them to recoijnize and obev. He added a 
few words touching the power and glory of Count 
Frontenac, and concluded by asking infonnatiou 



58 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. [1673. 

concerning the Mississippi, and the tribes along its 
banks, whom he was on his way to visit. The 
chief repUed with a speech of compHment, — assur- 
ing his guests that their presence added flavor to 
his tobacco, made the river more calm, the sky 
more serene, and the earth more beautiful. In 
conclusion, he gave them a young slave and a 
calumet, begging them at the same time to aban- 
don tlieir purpose of descending the Mississippi. 

A feast of four courses now followed. First, a 
wooden bowl full of a porridge of Indian meal 
boiled with grease was set before the guests, and 
the master of ceremonies fed them in turn, like in- 
fants, with a large spoon. Then appeared a plat- 
ter of fish ; and the same functionary, carefully re- 
moving the bones with his fingers, and blowing on 
the morsels to cool them, placed them in the 
mouths of the two Frenchmen. A large dog, kill- 
ed and cooked for the occasion, was next placed 
before them ; but, failing to tempt their fastidious 
appetites, was supplanted by a dish of fat buffalo- 
meat, which concluded the entertainment. The 
crowd having dispersed, buffalo-robes were spread 
on the ground, and Marquette and Joliet spent tlie 
niglit on the scene of the late festivity. In the 
morning, the chief, with some six hundred of his 
tribesmen, escorted them to their canoes, and bade 
them, after their stolid fashion, a friendly farewell. 

Again they were on their way, slowly drifting 
down the great river. They passed the mouth of 
the Illinois, and glided beneath that line of rocks 
on the eastern side, cut into fantastic forms by the 



1673.] THE PAINTED ROCKS. 59 

elements, and marked as " The Ruined Castles " 
on some of the early French maps. Presently 
they beheld a sight which reminded them that the 
Devil was still lord paramount of this wilderness. 
On the flat face of a high rock, were painted in 
red, black, and green a pair of monsters, — each 
" as large as a calf, with horns like a deer, .red 
eyes, a beard like a tiger, and a frightful expres- 
sion of countenance. The face is something like 
that of a man, the body covered with scales ; and 
the tail so long that it passes entirely round the 
body, over the head and between the legs, ending 
like that of a fish." Such is the account which the 
worthy Jesuit gives of these manitous, or Indian 
gods.^ He confesses that at first they frightened 
him ; and his imagination and that of his credulous 
companions were so wrought upon by these unhal- 
lowed efforts of Indian art, that they continued for 
a long time to talk of them as they plied their pad- 
dles. They were thus engaged, when they were 

^ The rock where these figure-s were painted is immediately above tlie 
city of Alton. The tradition of their existence remains, thougli tliey are 
entirely effaced by time. I,n 1867, wlien I passed the place, a part of the 
rock had been quarried away, and, instead of Marquette's monsters, it 
bore a huge advertisement of "Plantation Bitters." Some years ago, 
certain persons, with more zeal tlian knowledge, proposed to restore the 
6gures, after conceptions of their own ; but the idea was abandoned. 

Marquette made a drawing of the two monsters, but it is lost. I have, 
however, a fac-simile of a map made a few years later by order of the 
Intendant Duchesneau ; whicli is decorated with the portrait of one of 
them, answering to Marquette's description, and probably copied from his 
drawing. St. Cosme, who saw them in 16'J9, says that they were even 
then almost effaced. Douay and Joutel also speak of them ; tlie former, 
bitterly hostile to his Jesuit contemporaries, charging Marquette with 
exaggeration in his account of them. Joutel could see nothing terrifying 
in their appearance ; but he says that his Indians made sacrifices to them 
as they passed 



60 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. [1673. 

suddenly aroused by a real danger. A torrent of 
yellow mud rushed furiously athwart the calm blue 
current of the Mississippi ; boiling and surging, and 
sweeping in its course logs, branches, and uprooted 
trees. They had reached the mouth of the Mis- 
souri, where that savage river, descending from' its 
mad career through a vast unknown of barbarism, 
poured its turbid floods into the bosom of its gen- 
tler sister. Their light canoes whirled on the miry 
Vortex like dry leaves on an angry brook. " I 
never," writes Marquette, " saw any thing more ter- 
rific ; " but they escaped with their fright, and held 
their way down the turbulent and swollen current 
of the now united rivers.-^ They passed the lonely 
forest that covered the site of the destined city of 
St. Louis, and, a few days later, saw on their left 
the mouth of the stream to which the Iroquois had 
given the well-merited name of Ohio, or, the 
Beautiful River.^ Soon they began to sec the 
marshy shores buried in a dense growth of the cane, 
with its tall straight stems and feathery light-green 
foliage. The sun glowed through the hazy air 
with a languid stifling heat, and, by day and night, 
mosquitoes in myriads left them no peace. They 
floated slowly down the current, crouched in the 



1 The Missouri is called Pekitanou'i by Marquette. It also bears, on 
early French maps, the names of Iliviere dcs Usages, and Kiviere des 
Eniissourites, or Oumessourits. On Marquette's map, a tribe of this name 
is placed near its banks, just above the Osages. Judging by the course of 
the Mississippi that it discharged into the Gulf of Mexico, he conceived 
the hope of one day reaching tlie. South Sea by way of tlie Missouri. 

- Called on Marquette's map, Ouabouskiaou. On some of the earliest 
maps, it is called Ouabache (Wabash). 



1673.] THE LOWER MlSSISSim. ' 61 

sliade of the sails which they had sjDre^d as awn- 
ings, when suddenly they saw Indians on the east 
bank. The surprise was mutual, and each party 
was as much frightened as the other. Marquette 
hastened to display the calumet which the Illinois 
had given him byway of passport ; and the Indians, 
recognizing the pacific symbol, replied Avith an invi- 
tation to land. Evidently, they were in communica- 
tion with Europeans, for they were armed with guns, 
knives, and hatchets, wore garments of cloth, and 
carried their gunpowder in small bottles of thick 
glass. They feasted the Frenchmen with buffalo- 
meat, bear's oil, and white plums ; and gave them a 
variety of doubtful information, including the agree- 
able but delusive assurance that they would reach 
the mouth of the river in ten days. It was, in fact, 
more than a thousand miles distant. 
. They resumed their course, and again floated 
doAvn the interminable monotony of river, marsh and 
forest. Day after day passed on in solitude, and they 
had paddled some three hundred miles since their 
meeting with the Indians; when, as they neared 
the mouth of the Arkansas, they saw a cluster of 
wigAvams on the west bank. Their inmates were all 
astir, yelling the war-whoop, snatching their weap- 
ons, and running to the shore to meet the strangers, 
who, on their part, called for succor to the Virgin. 
In truth they had need of her aid ; for several large 
wooden canoes, filled with savages, were putting 
out from the shore, above and below them, to cut 
off their retreat, while a swarm of headlong young 
warriors waded uito the water to attack them. The 

6 



62 THE" DISCOVERY OF TPIE MISSISSirPI. [1G73 

current proved too strong ; and, failing to reach the 
canoes of the Frenchmen, one of them threw his 
vvar-chib, which flew over the heads of the startled 
travellers. Meanwhile, Marquette had not ceased 
to hold up his calumet, to which the excited crowd 
gave no heed, but strung their bows and notched 
their arrows for immediate action ; when at length 
the elders of the village arrived, saw the peace- 
pipe, restrained the ardor of the youth, and urged 
the Frenchmen to come ashore. Marquette and 
his companions complied, trembling, and found a 
better reception than they had reason to expect. 
One of the Indians spoke a little Illinois, and served 
as interpreter ; a friendly conference was followed 
by a feast of sagamite and fish ; and the travellers, 
not without sore misgivings, spent the night in the 
lodges of their entertainers.' 

Early in the morning, they embarked again, and 
proceeded to a village of the Arkansas tribe, about 
eight leagues below. Notice of their coming was 
sent before them by their late hosts ; and, as they 
drew near, they were met by a canoe, in the proAV of 
which stood a naked personage, holding a calumet, 
singing, and making gestures of friendship. On 
reaching the village, which was on the east side,^ 
opposite the mouth of the river Arkansas, they were 
conducted to a sort of scaffold before the lodge of 
the war-chief. The space beneath had been pre 
pared for their reception, the ground being neatly 

1 This village, called Mitchigamea, is represented on several contem 
porary maps. 

2 A few years later, the Arkansas were all on the west side. 



1673.] THE ARKANSAS. 63 

covered with rush mats. On these they were 
seated ; the warriors sat around them in a semi- 
circle ; then the elders of the tribe ; and then the 
promiscuous crowd of villagers, standing, and staring 
over the heads of the more dignified members of 
the assembly. All the men were naked ; but, to 
^compensate for the lack of clothing, they wore 
strings of beads in their noses and ears. The 
women were clothed in shabby skins, and wore 
their hau' clumped in a mass behind each ear. By 
good luck, there was a young Indian in the village, 
who had an excellent knowledsre of Illinois ; and 
through him Marquette endeavored to explain the 
mysteries of Christianity, and to gain information 
concerning the river below. To this end he gave 
his auditors the presents indispensable on such 
occasions, but received very little in return. They 
told him that the Mississippi was infested by hostile 
Indians, armed with guns procured from white 
men ; and that they, the Arkansas, stood in such 
fear of them that they dared not hunt the buffalo, 
but were forced to live on Indian corn, of which 
they raised three crops a year. 

During the speeches on either side, food was 
brought in without ceasing ; sometimes a platter of 
sagamite or mush ; sometimes of corn boiled whole ; 
sometimes a roasted dog. The villagers had large 
earthen pots and platters, made by themselves with 
tolerable skill, — as well as hatchets, knives, and 
beads, gained by traffic with the Illinois and other 
tribes in contact with the French or Spaniards. All 
day there was feasting without respite, after tlie 



64 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. [1673. 

merciless practice of Indian hospitality; but at 
night some of their entertainers proposed to kill 
and plunder them, — a scheme which was defeated 
by the vigilance of the chief, who visited their 
quarters, and danced the calumet dance to reassure 
his guests. 

The travellers now held counsel as to what course 
they should take. They had gone far enough, as 
they thought, to establish one important point, — 
that the Mississippi discharged its waters, not into 
the Atlantic or sea of Virginia, nor into the Gulf of 
California or Vermilion Sea, but into the Gulf 
of Mexico. They thought themselves nearer to its 
mouth than they actually were, — the distance being 
still about seven hundred miles ; and they feared 
that, if they went farther, they might be killed by 
Indians or captured by Spaniards, whereby the re- 
sults of their discovery would be lost. Therefore 
they resolved to return to Canada, and report what 
they had seen. 

They left the Arkansas village, and began their 
nomeward voyage on the seventeenth of July. It 
was no easy task to urge their way upward, in the 
heat of midsummer, against the current of the dark 
and gloomy stream, toiling all day under the parcli- 
ing sun, and sleeping at night in the exhalations of 
the unwholesome shore, or in the narrow confines 
of their birchen vessels, anchored on the river. Mar- 
quette was attacked with dysentery. Languid and 
well-nigh spent, he invoked his celestial mistress, 
as day after day, and week after week, they won 
their slow way northward. At length they reached 



1673.1 RETURN TO CANADA. 65 

the Illinois, and, entering its mouth, followed its 
course, charmed, as they went, with its placid 
waters, its shady forests, and its rich plains, grazed 
by the bison and the deer. They stopped at a spot 
soon to be made famous in the annals of western 
discovery. This was a village of the Illinois, then 
called Kaskaskia, — a name afterwards transferred 
to another locality.^ A chief, with a band of young 
warriors, oiFered to guide them to the Lake of the 
Illinois ; that is to say, Lake Michigan. Thither 
they repaired ; and, coasting its shores, reached 
Green Bay at the end of September, after an ab- 
sence of about four months, during which they had 
paddled their canoes somewhat more than two thou- 
sand five hundred miles.^ 

Marquette remained, to recruit his exhausted 
strength ; but Joliet descended to Quebec, to bear 
the report of his discovery to Count Frontenac. 



• Marquette says that it consisted at this time of seventy-four lodges. 
These, like the Huron and Iroquois lodges, contained each several fires 
and several families. This village was about seven miles below the site 
of the present town of Ottawa. 

2 The journal of Marquette, first publislied in an imperfect form by 
Thevenot, in 1681, has been reprinted by Mr. Lenox, under the direction 
of Mr. Shea, from the manuscript preserved in tlie archives of the Cana- 
dian Jesuits. It will also be found in Shea's Discovery and Exploration of 
the ]\Iississii)pi Valley, and the Relations Inedites, of Martin. The true map 
of Marquette accompanies all these publications. Tlie map published by 
Thevenot and reproduced by Bancroft is not Marquette's. The original 
of tliis, of which I have a fac-simile, bears the title Carte de la Nonvelle 
D€couve.rte f/ite les Peres Jc'suites ont fait en I'ann^e 1G72, et continu€e par le Fere 
Jacques Marquette, etc. The return route of the expedition is incorrectly 
laid down on it. A manuscript map of the Jesuit Raffeix, preserved in 
the Bibliothcque Imperiale, is more accurate in this particular. I liave 
also anotlier contemporary manuscript map, indicating the various Jesuit 
stations in the west at this time, and representing the Mississippi, a8 dis- 
covered by Marquette. For tliese and other maps, see Appendix. 

6* 



66 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI [1674 

Fortune had wonderfully favored him on his long 
and perilous journey ; but now she abandoned hira 
on the very threshold of home. At the foot of the 
rapids of La Chine, and immediately above Mon- 
treal, his canoe Avas overset, two of his men and an 
Indian boy were drowned, all his papers were lost, 
and he himself narrowly escaped.^ In a letttrr to 
Frontenac, he speaks of the accident as follows . 
" I had escaped every peril from the Indians ; I 
had passed forty-two rapids ; and was on the point 
of disembarking, full of joy at the success of so 
long and difficult an enterprise, — when my canoe 
capsized, after all the danger seemed over. I lost 
two men, and my box of papers, within sight of the 
first French settlements, which I had left almost 
two years before. Nothing remains to me but my 
life, and the ardent desire to employ it on any ser- 
vice which you may please to direct." ^ 

1 Lcttre de Frontenac au Ministre, Qxdiec, 14 Nov. 1674, MS. 

2 This letter is appended to Joliet's sniiiller map of liis discoveries. 
See Appendix. Joliet applied for a grant of the countries he had visited, 
but failed to obtain it, because the king wished .at this time to confine the 
inhabitants of Canada to productive industry within the limits of the 
colony, and to restrain their tendency to roam into the western wilder- 
ness. On the seventh of October, 1075, Joliet married Claire IJissot, 
daughter of a wealthy Canadian merchant, engaged in trade with the 
northern Indians. This drew Joliet's attention to Hudson's Bay, and lie 
made a journey thither in 1079, by way of the Saguenay. He found 
three English forts on the bay, occupied by about sixty men, who had 
also an armed vessel of twelve guns and several small trading-craft. The 
English held out great inducements to Joliet to join them ; but lie de- 
clined, and returned to Quebec, where he reported that, unless these for- 
midable rivals were dispossessed, the trade of Canada would be ruined 
In consequence of this report, some of the principal merchants of the 

' colony formed a company to compete with the English in the trade of 
Hudson's Bay. In the year of this journey, Joliet received a grant of the 
islanls of Mignan ; and in the following year, 1680, he received another 



-^ 



1674,1 MARQUETTE'S MISSION. 61 

Marquette spent the winter and the following 
summer at the mission of Green Bay, still suffering 
from his malady. In the autumn, however, it 
abated, and he was permitted by his superior to at- 
tempt the execution of a plan to which he was de- 
votedly attached, — the founding, at the principal 
town of the Illinois, of a mission to be called the 
Immaculate Conception, a name which he had 
already given to the river Mississippi. He set out 
on this errand on the twenty-fifth of October, ac- 
companied by two men, named Pierre and Jacques, 
one of whom had been with him on his great jour- 
ney of discovery. A band of Pottawattamies and 
another band of Illinois also joined him. The 
united parties — ten canoes in all — followed the 
east shore of Green Bay as far as the inlet then 
called Sturgeon Cove, from the head of which they 
crossed by a difficult portage through the forest to 
the shore of Lake Michigan. November had come. 
The bright hues of the autumn foliage were 
changed to rusty brown. The shore was desolate, 
and the lake was stormy. They were more than a 



grant, of tlio groat island of Anticosti in the lower St. Lawrence. In 1G81, 
lie was established hero witli his wife and six servants. He was engaged 
in fisheries ; and, being a skilful navigator and surveyor, lie made about 
this time a chart of the St. Lawrence. In 1690, Sir William Phips, on 
his way with an English fleet to attack Quebec, made a descent on Joliet's 
establislinicnt, burnt his buildings, and took prisoners his wife and his 
motlicr-in-law. In 1G94, Jolict explored the coasts of Labrador under the 
auspices of a company formed for the whale and seal fishery. On his 
return, Frontenac made him royal i)ilot for the St. Lawrence ; and at nhtmi 
the same lime he received the appointment of hydrographer at Quebec. 
He died, apparently poor, in 1G09 or 1700, and was buried on one of the 
islands of Mignan. The discovery of the above fa(.'ts is due in great part 
to the researches of Margry. 



68 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSHTI. [1G74 

month in coasting its western border, when at length 
they reached the river Chicago, entered it, and as- 
cended about two leagues. Marquette's disease 
had lately returLed, and hemorrhage now ensued. 
He told his two companions that this journey 
would be his last. In the condition in which he 
was, it was impossible to go farther. The two 
men built a log-hut by the river, and here they pre- 
pared to spend the winter, while Marquette, feeble 
as he was, began the spiritual exercises of Saint 
Ignatius, and confessed his two companions twice a 
week. 

Meadow, marsh, and forest were sheeted with 
snow, but game was abundant. Pierre and Jacques 
killed buffalo and deer and shot wild turkeys close 
to -their hut. There was an encampment of Illi- 
nois within two days' journey ; and other Indians, 
passing by this well known thoroughfare, occasion- 
ally visited them, treating the exiles kindly, and 
sometimes bringing them game and Indian corn. 
Eighteen leagues distant was the camp of two ad- 
venturous French traders, — one of them a noted 
Goureiir de hois, nicknamed La Taupine,^ and the 
other a self-styled surgeon. They also visited Mar- 
quette, and befriended him to the best of their 
power. 

Urged by a burning desire to lay, before he died, 
the foundation of his new mission of the Immacu- 
late Conception, Marquette begged his two follow- 

1 Pierre Moreau, alias La Taupine, was afterwards bitterly complained 
of by the Intendant Ducliesneau for acting as the Governor's agent in 
illicit trade with the Indians. 



1675.] THE MISSION AT KASKASKIA. 69 

ers to join him in a iiovena, or nine days' devotion 
to the Virgin. In consequence of this, as he be- 
lieved, his disease relented ; he began to regain 
strength, and, in March, was able to resume the 
journey. On the thirtieth of the month, they left 
their hut, which had been inundated by a sudden 
rise of the river, and carried their canoe through 
nuid and water over the portage which led to the 
head of the Des Plaines. Marquette knew the 
way, for he had passed by this route on his return 
from the Mississippi. i\mid the rains of opening 
spring, they floated down the swollen current of the 
Des Plaines, by naked woods, and spongy, saturated 
prairies, till they reached its junction with the main 
stream of the Illinois, which they descended to their 
destination, — the Indian town which Marquette 
calls Kaskaskia. Here, as we are told, he was 
received " like an angel from Heaven." He passed 
from wigwam to wigwam, telling the listening 
crowds of God and the Virgin, Paradise and Hell, 
angels and demons ; and, when he thought their 
minds prepared, he summoned them all to a grand 
council. 

It took place near the town, on the great meadow 
which lies between the river and the modem vil- 
lage of Utica. Here five hundred chiefs and old 
men were seated in a ring ; behind stood fifteen 
hundred youths and warriors, and behind these 
agcain all the women and children of the villasre. 
Marquette, standing in the midst, displayed four 
large pictures of the Virgin ; harangued the as- 
sembly on the mysteries of the Faith, and ex- 



70 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. [1G75. 

horted them to adopt it. The temper of his au- 
ditory met his utmost wishes. They begged him 
to stay among them and continue his instructions ; 
but his life was fast ebbing away, and it behooved 
him to depart. 

A few days after Easter he left the village, es- 
corted by a crowd of Indians, who followed him as 
far as Lake Michigan. Here he embarked with 
his two companions. Their destination was Michil- 
limackinac, and their course lay along the eastern 
borders of the lake. As, in the freshness of advanc- 
ing spring, Pierre and Jacques urged their canoe 
along that lonely and savage shore, the priest lay 
with dimmed sight and prostrated strength, com- 
muning with the Virgin and the angels. On the 
nineteenth of May he felt that his hour was near ; 
and, as, they passed the mouth of a small river, he 
requested his companions to land. They complied, 
built a shed of bark on a rising ground near the 
bank, and carried thither the dying Jesuit. With 
perfect cheerfulness and composure he gave direc- 
tions for his burial, asked their forgiveness for the 
trouble he had caused them, administered to them 
the saci'ament of penitence, and thanked God that 
he was permitted to die in the wilderness, a mis- 
sionary of the faith and a member of the Jesuit 
brotherhood. At night, seeing that they were fa- 
tigued, he told them to take rest, — saying that he 
would call them when he felt his time approaching. 
Two or three hours after, they heard a feeble voice, 
and, hastening to his side, found him at the point of 
death. He expired calmly, murmuiing the names 



11)70-7.) BUKIAL OF MAEQUETTE. 71 

of Jesus and Mary, with his eyes fixed on the 
crucifix which one of his followers held before 
him. They dug a grave beside the hut, and here 
they buried him according to the directions which 
he had given them ; then re-embarking, they made 
their way to Michillimackinac, to bear the tidings 
to the priests at the mission of St. Ignace.'^ 

In the winter of 1676, a party of I^skakon Ot- 
tawas were hunting on Lake Michigan : and when, 
in the following spring, they prepared to return 
home, they bethought them, in accordance with an 
Indian custom, of taking with them the bones of 
Marquette, who had been their instructor at the 
mission of St. Esprit. They repaired to the spot, 
found the grave, opened it, washed and diied the 
bones and placed them carefully in a box of birch- 
bark. Then, in a procession of thirty canoes, they 
bore it, singing their funeral songs, to St. Ignace of 
Michillimackinac. As they approaclied, priests, In- 
dians, and traders all thronged to the shore. The 
relics of Marquette were received with solemn cere- 
mony, and buried beneath the floor of the little 
chapel of the mission.^ 

1 The contemporary Relation tells us tliat a miracle took place at the 
burial (if JMarquette. One of the two Frenchmen, overcome witli grief 
and colic, betliouglit him of ajiplying a little earth from the grave to tlie 
seat of pain. Tiiis at once restoretl him to health and cheerfulness. 

- For jMarquettc's death, see tlie conteniporary Relulioit, published by 
Shea, Lenox, and Martin, with the accompanying Leitre tt Journal. The 
river where he died is a snniU stream in tlie west of Micliigan, some dis- 
tance south of the promontory called tlie " Sleeping Bear." It long bore 
his name, which is now borne by a larger neighboring stream. Charle- 
voix's account of Marquette's death is derived from tradition, and is not 
supported by the contemporary narrative. The voi/nr/i'urs on Lake 
Michigan long continued to invoke the intercession of the departed mis- 
sionary in time of danger. 



72 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. [1677. 

In 1847, the missionary of the Algonquins at the Lake of Two Moun- 
tains, above Montreal, wrote down a tradition of the death of Marquette, 
from the hps of an old Indian woman, born in 1777, at Michilliniackinac. 
Her ancestress had been baptized by the subject of the story. Tlie tradi- 
tion has a resemblance to that related as fact by Charlevoix. The old 
squaw said that the Jesuit was returning, very ill, to Michillimackinac, 
when a storm forced him and his two men to land near a little river. Here 
he told them that he should die, and directed them to ring a bell over his 
grave and plant a cross. They all remained four days at the spot; and, 
though without food, the men felt no hunger. On the night of the fourth 
day he died, and the men buried him as he had directed. On waking in 
the morning, they saw a sack of Indian corn, a quantity of lard, and some 
biscuits, miraculously sent to them in accordance with the promise of 
Marquette, who had told them that they should have food enougli for 
their journey to Michillimackinac. At the same instant, tlie stream began 
to rise, and in a few moments encircled the grave of the Jesuit, which 
formed, thenceforth, an islet in the waters. The tradition adds, that an 
Indian battle afterwards took place on the banks of tliis stream, between 
Christians and infidels ; and that tlie former gained the victory in conse- 
quence of invoking the name of Marquette. This story bears the attesta- 
tion of the priest of the Two Mountains, that it is a literal translation of 
the tradition, as recounted by the old woman. 

It has been asserted that the Illinois country was visited by two priests, 
some time before the visit of Marquette. This assertion was first made 
by M. Noiseux, late Grand Vicar of Quebec, who gives no authority for 
it. Not the slightest indication of any such visit appears in any contem- 
porary document or map thus far discovered. The contemporary writers, 
down to the time of Marquette and La Salle, all speak of the Illinois as an 
unknown country. The entire groundlessness of Noiseux's assertion is 
shown by Shea in a paper in the " Weekly Herald," of New York, 
AprU 21, 1855. 



CHAPTER VI. 

1673-1678. 
LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. 

Objects OF La Salle. — His Difficulties. — Official CoRRnmoN im 
Canada. — The Governor of Montreal. — Projects of Feontenac. 
— Cataraqui. — Frontenac on Lake Ontario. — Fokt Feontenac — 
Success of La Salle. 

We turn from the humble Marquette, thanking 
God with his last breath that he died for his Order 
and his faith ; and by our side stands the masculine 
form of Cavelier de la Salle. Prodigious was tlie 
contrast between the two discoverers : the one, with 
clasped hands and upturned eyes, seems a figure 
evoked from some dim legend of mediaeval saint- 
ship ; the other, with feet firm planted on the hard 
earth, breathes the self-relying energies of modern 
practical enterprise. Nevertheless, La Salle was a 
man wedded to ideas, and urged by the steady and 
considerate enthusiasm, which is the life-spring of 
heroic natures. Three thoughts, rapidly developing 
in his mind, were mastering him, and engendering 
an invincible purpose. First, he would achieve that 
which Champlain had vainly attempted, and of 
which our own generation has but now seen the 



74: LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. [1673-8 

accomplishment, — the opcnmg of a passage to 
India and China across the American continent. 
Next, he would occupy the Great West, develop its 
commercial resources, and anticipate the Spaniards 
and the English in the possession of it. Thirdly, — 
for he soon became convinced that the Mississippi 
discharged itself into the Gulf of Mexico, — he 
would establish a fortified post at its mouth, thus 
securing an outlet for the trade of the interior, 
checking the progress of the Spaniards, and form- 
ing a base, whence, in time of war, their northern 
provinces could be invaded and conquered. 

Here were vast projects, projects perhaps be- 
yond the scope of private enterprise, conceived and 
nursed in the brain of a penniless young man. Two 
conditions were indispensable to their achievement. 
The first was the countenance of the Canadian au- 
thorities, and the second was money'. There was 
but one mode of securing either, to appeal to the 
love of gain of those who could aid the enterprise. 
Count Frontenac had no money to give ; but he 
had what was no less to the purpose, the resources 
of an arbitrary power, which he was always ready 
to use to the utmost. From the manner in which 
he mentions La Salle in his despatches, it seems 
that the latter succeeded in gaining his con- 
fidence very soon after he entered upon his govern- 
ment. There was a certain similarity between the 
two men. Both were able, resolute, and enterpris- 
ing. The irascible and fiery pride of the noble 
found its match in the reserved and seemingly cold 
pride of the ambitious young burgher. Their tem- 



1673-8.] SCHEMES OF LA SALLE. 75 

peraments were different, but the bases of their 
characters were alike, and each could "perfectly 
comprehend the other. They had, moreover, sti'ong 
prejudices and dislikes in common. With his 
ruined fortune, his habits of expenditure, the exi- 
gent demands of his rank and station, and the 
wretched pittance which he received from the king 
of three thousand francs a year, Frontenac was not 
the man to let slip any reasonable opportunity of 
bettering his condition.^ La Salle seems to have 
laid his plans before him as far as he had at this 
time formed them, and a complete understanding 
was established between them. Here was a great 
point gained. The head of the colony was on his 
side. It remained to raise money, and this was a 
harder task. La Salle's relations were rich, evi- 
dently proud of him, and anxious for his advance- 
ment. As his schemes developed, they supplied 
him with means to pursue them, and one of them 
in particular, his cousin Fran9ois Plot, became 
largely interested in his enterprises.^ Believing 
that his project:;, if carried into effect, would prove a 
source of immense wealth to all concerned in them, 
and gifted with a rare power of persuasion when 
he chose to use it, La Salle addressed himself to 
various merchants and officials of the colony, and 
induced some of them to become partners in his 

1 That he engaged in the fur-trade, was notorious. In a letter to tlie 
Minister Seignelay, 13 Oct. 1681, Diichesneau, Intendant of Canada, de- 
clares that Fronteriac used all the authority of his oflice to favor those in- 
terested in trade with him, and that he would favor nobody else. The 
Intendant himself had a rival interest in the same trade. 

'■^ Papiers de Fumille, MSS. 



76 LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. [1673-8 

adventure. But here we are anticipating. Clearly 
to understand his position, we must revert to the 
fii'st year of Frontenac's government. 

No sooner had that astute official set foot in the 
colony than, with an eagle eye, he surveyed the sit- 
uation, and quickly comprehended it. It was some- 
what peculiar. Canada lived on the fur-trade, a 
species of commerce always liable to disorders, and 
which had produced, among other results, a lawless 
body of men known as coureurs de hois, who followed 
the Indians in their wanderings, and sometimes be- 
came as barbarous as their red associates. The order- 
loving king who swayed the destinies of France, 
taking umbrage at these irregularities, had issued 
mandates intended to repress the evil, by prohibit- 
ing the inhabitants of Canada from leaving the 
limits of the settled country ; and requiring the 
trade to be carried on, not in the distant wilderness, 
but within the bounds of the colony. The civil and 
military officers of the crown, charged with the exe- 
cution of these ordinances, showed a sufficient zeal 
in enforcing them against others, while they them- 
selves habitually violated them ; hence, a singular 
confusion, with abundant outcries, complaint, and 
recrimination. Prominent among these officials was 
Perrot, Governor of Montreal, who must not be con- 
founded with Nicolas Perrot, the voyageur. The 
Governor of Montreal, though subordinate to the 
Governor-General, held great and ai'oitrary power 
within his own jurisdiction. Perrot had married 
a niece of Talon, the late Intendant, to whose 
influence he owed his place. Confiding in tliis 



1671-3.] PERROT, GOVERNOR OF MONTREAL. 77 

powerful protection, he gave free rein to his head- 
strong temper, and carried his government with a 
high hand, berating and abusing anybody who ven- 
tured to remonstrate. The grave fathers of St. 
Sulpice, owners of Montreal, were the more scan- 
dalized at the behavior of their military chief, by 
reason of a certain burlesque and gasconading vein 
which often appeared in him, and which they re- 
garded as unseemly levity.^ 

Perrot, through his wife's uncle, had obtained a 
grant of the Island above Montreal, which still bears 
his name. Here he established a trading house 
which he placed in charge of an agent, one Brucy, 
who, by a tempting display of merchandise and 
liquors, intercepted the Indians on their yearly de- 
scent to trade with the French, and thus got posses- 
sion of their furs, in anticipation of the market of 
Montreal. Not satisfied with this, Perrot, in de- 
fiance of the royal order, sent men into the woods to 
trade with the Indians in their villages, and it is 
said even used his soldiers for this purpose, imder 
cover of pretended desertion.^ The rage of the 
merchants of Montreal may readily be conceived, 
and when Frontenac heard of the behavior of his 
subordinate he was duly incensed. 

It seems, however, to have occurred, or to have 
been suggested to him, that he, the Governor-Gen- 

1 Perrot received liis appointment from the Seminary of St. Sulplce, 
on Tiilon's recommendation, but lie afterwards applied for and gained a 
royal commission, wliich, as he tliought, made him independent of the 
priests. 

' The original papers relating to the accusations against Perrot are 
still preserved in tlie ancient records of Montreal. 

7* 



78 LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. [1G73. 

eral might repeat the device of Perrot on a larger 
scale and with more profitable results. By estab- 
lishing a fortified trading post on Lake Ontario, the 
whole trade of the upper country might be en- 
grossed, with the exception of that portion of it 
which descended by the river Ottawa, and even 
this might in good part be diverted from its former 
channel. At the same time, a plan of a fort on 
Lake Ontario might be made to appear as of great 
importance to the welfare of the colony ; and in 
fact, from one point of view, it actually was so. 
Courcelles, the late governor, had already pointed 
out its advantages. Such a fort would watch and 
hold in check the Iroquois, the worst enemy of 
Canada ; and, with the aid of a few small vessels, 
it would intercept the trade which the upper In- 
dians were carrying on through the Iroquois coun- 
try with the English and Dutch of New York. 
Frontenac learned from La Salle that the English 
were intriguing both with the Iroquois and with 
the tribes of the Upper Lakes, to induce them to 
break the peace with the French, and bring their 
furs to New York.* Hence the advantages, not 
to say the necessity, of a fort on Lake Ontario 
were obvious. But, Avhile it would turn a stream 
of wealth from the English to the French colony, 
it was equally clear that the change might be 
made to inure, not to the profit of Canada at 
large, but solely to that of those who had con- 
trol of the fort ; or, in other words, that the new 

1 Lettre de Frontenac a Colbert, 13 Nov. 1G73. 



1673.] EXPEDITION OF FRONTENAC. 79 

establishment might become an instrument of a 
grievous monopoly. This Frontenac and La Salle 
well understood, and there can be no reasonable 
doubt that they aimed at securing such a mono- 
poly : but the merchants of Canada understood 
it, also ; and hence they regarded with distrust 
any scheme of a fort on Lake Ontario. 

Frontenac, therefore, thought it expedient " to 
make use," as he expresses it, " of address." He 
gave out merely that he intended to make a tour 
through the upper parts of the colony with an 
armed force, in order to inspire the Indians with 
respect, and secure a solid peace. He had neither 
troops, money, munitions, nor means of transporta- 
ion ; yet there was no time to lose, for should he 
delay the execution of his plan it might be counter- 
manded by the king. His only resource, therefore, 
was in a prompt and hardy exertion of the royal 
authority ; and he issued an order requiring the 
inhabitants of Quebec, Montreal, Three Rivers, and 
other settlements to furnish him, at their own cost, 
as soon as the spring sowing should be over, with a 
certain number of armed men besides the requisite 
canoes. At the same time, he invited the officers 
settled in the country to join the expedition, an in- 
vitation which, anxious as they were to gain his 
good graces, few of them cai'ed to decline. Regard- 
less of murmurs and discontent, he pushed his prep 
aration vigorously, and on the thu'd of June left 
Quebec with his guard, his staif, a part of the 
garrison of the Castle of St. Louis, and a number 
of volunteers. He had already sent to La Salle, 



80 LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. [1673. 

who was then at Montreal, directing him to repair 
to Onondaga, the poUtical centre of the Iroquois, and 
invite their sachems to meet the Governor in coun- 
cil at the Bay of Quinte on the north of Lake On 
tario. La Salle had set out on his mission, but first 
sent Frontenac a map, which convinced him that 
the best site for his proposed fort was the mouth 
of the Cataraqui, where Kingston now stands. 
Another messenger was accordingly despatched, to 
change the rendezvous to this point. 

Meanwhile, the Governor proceeded, at his lei- 
sure, towards Montreal, stopping by the way to visit 
the officers settled along the bank, who, eager to 
pay their homage to the newly risen sun, received 
him with a hospitality, which, under the roof 
of a log hut, was sometimes graced by the 
polished courtesies of the salon and the boudoir*. 
Reaching Montreal, which he had never before 
seen, he gazed we may suppose with some inter- 
est at the long row of humble dwellings which 
lined the bank, the massive buildings of the semi- 
nary, and the spire of the church predominant 
over all. It was a rude scene, but the greeting 
that awaited him savored nothing of the rough 
simplicity of the wilderness. Perrot, the local 
governor, was on the shore with his soldiers and 
the inhabitants, drawn up under arms, and fniug 
a salute, to welcome the representative of the 
king. Frontenac was compelled to listen to a lon^,'- 
harangue from the Judge of the place, followed by 
another from the Syndic. Then there was a sol- 
emn procession to the church, where he was 



1673.] FRONTENAC'S JOURNEY. 81 

forced to undergo a third effort of oratory from one 
of the priests. Te Deum followed, in thanks for 
his arrival, and then he took refuge in the fort. 
Here he remained thirteen days, busied with his 
preparations, organizing the militia, soothing their 
mutual jealousies, and settling knotty questions of 
tank and precedence. During this time every 
means, as he declares, was used to prevent him 
from proceeding, and among other devices a rumor 
was set on foot that a Dutch fleet, having just cap- 
tured Boston, was on its way to attack Quebec.^ 

Having sent men, canoes, and baggage, by land, 
to La Salle's old settlement of La Chine, Frontenac 
himself followed on the twenty-eighth of June. 
He now had with him about four hundred men, 
including Indians from the missions, anc^ a hundred 
and twenty canoes, besides two large flatboats, 
which he caused to be painted in red and blue, 
with strange devices, intended to dazzle the Iro- 
quois by a display of unwonted splendor. Now 
their hard task began. Shouldering canoes through 
the forest, dragging the flatboats along the shore, 
working like beavers, sometimes in water to the 
knees, sometimes to the armpits, their feet cut by 
the sharp stones, and they themselves well nigh 
swept down by the furious current, they fought 
their way upward against the chain of mighty rap- 
ids that break the navigation of the St. Lawrence. 

1 Lettre de Frontenac d. Colhei-t, 13 Nov. 1673, 5IS. This rumor, it ap- 
pears, originated with the Jesuit Dablon. — Journal dii Voyage du Comte 
de Frontenac au Lac Ontario. MS. The Jesuits were greatly oppnscd to 
the establishment of forts and trading posts in the upper country, for 
reasons that will appear hereafter. 



82 LA SALLE AND FEONTENAC. 11673. 

The Indians were of the greatest service. Fronte- 
nac, hke La Salle, showed from the first a special 
faculty of managing them; for his keen, incisive 
spirit was exactly to their liking, and they worked 
for him as they would have worked for no man 
else. As they approached the Long Saut, rain fell 
in torrents, and the Governor, without his cloak, 
and drenched to the skin, directed in person the 
amphibious toil of his followers. Once, it is said, 
he lay awake all night, in his anxiety lest the bis- 
cuit should be wet, which would have ruined the 
expedition. No such mischance took place, and at 
length the last rapid was passed, and smooth water 
awaited them to their journey's end. Soon they 
reached the Thousand Islands, and their light flotil- 
la glided in long file among those watery labyrinths, 
by rocky islets, where some lonely pine towered 
like a mast against the skyj by sun-scorched crags, 
where the brown lichens crisped in the parching 
glare ; by deep dells, shady and cool, rich in rank 
ferns, and spongy, dark green mosses ; by still coves, 
where the water-lilies lay like snow-flakes on their 
broad, flat leaves ; till at length they neared thcii- 
goal, and the glistening bosom of Lake Ontario 
opened on theii sight. 

Frontenac, to impose respect on the Iroquois, 
now set his canoes in order of battle. Four 
divisions formed the first line, then came the two 
flatboats ; he himself, with his guards, his staff, 
and the gentlemen volunteers, followed, with the 
canoes of Three Rivers on his right, and those of 
the Indians on his left, while two remaining divi- 



1673.] FRONTENAC AT CATARAQUI. 83 

sions formed a rear line. Thus, with measured 
paddles, they advanced over the still lake, till they 
saw a canoe approaching to meet them. It bore 
several Iroquois chiefs, who told them that the 
dignitaries of their nation awaited them at Catara- 
qui. and offered to guide them to the spot. They 
entered the wide mouth of the river, and passed 
along the shore, now covered by the quiet little city 
of Kingston, till they reached the point at present 
occupied by the barracks, at the Avestern end of 
Cataraqui bridge. Here they stranded their ca- 
noes and disembarked. Baggage was landed, fii-es 
lighted, tents pitched, and guards set. Close at 
hand, under the lee of the forest, were the camping 
sheds of the Iroquois, who had come to the rendez- 
vous in considerable numbers. 

At daybreak of the next morning, the thirteenth 
of July, the drums beat, and the whole party were 
drawn up under arms. A double line of men ex- 
tended from the front of Frontenac's tent to the 
Indian camp, and through the lane thus formed, 
the savage deputies, sixty in number, advanced to 
the place of council. They could not hide their 
admiration at the martial array of the French, many 
of whom were old soldiers of the Regiment of 
Carignan, and when they reached the tent, they 
ejaculated their astonishment at the uniforms of 
the Governor's guard who surrounded it. Here the 
ground had been carpeted Avith the sails of the flat- 
boats, on which the deputies squatted themselves 
in a ring and smoked their pipes for a time with 
their usual air of deliberate gravity, while Fronte- 



84 LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. [1G73. 

nac, who sat surrounded by his officers, had full 
leisure to contemplate the formidable adversaries 
whose mettle was hereafter to put his own to so 
severe a test. A chief named Garakontie, a noted 
friend of the French, at length opened the council, 
in behalf of all the five Iroquois nations, with ex- 
pressions of great respect and deference towards 
" Onontio " ; that is to say, the Governor of Cana- 
da. Whereupon Frontenac, whose native arro- 
gance, where Indians were concerned, always took 
a form which imposed respect without exciting 
anger, replied in the following strain : — 

"Children! Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, 
Cayugas, and Senecas. I am glad to see you here, 
Avhere I have had a fire lighted for you to smoke 
by, and for me to talk to you. You have done well, 
my children, to obey the command of your Father. 
Take courage ; you will hear his word, which is 
full of peace and tenderness. For do not think 
that I have come for war. My mind is full of 
peace, and she walks by my side. Courage, then, 
children, and take rest." 

With that, he gave them six fathoms of tobacco, 
reiterated his assurances of friendship, promised 
that he would be a kind father so long as they 
should be obedient children, regretted that he was 
forced to speak through an interpreter, and ended 
with a gift of guns to the men, and prunes and 
raisins to their wives and children. Here closed 
this preliminary meeting, the great council being 
postponed to another day. 

During the meeting, Raudin, Frontenac's engi- 



1673.] FRONTENAC AND THE INDIANS. 85 

neer, was tracing out the lines of a fort, after a 
predetermined plan, and the whole party, under 
the direction of their officers, now set themselves 
to construct it. Some cut down trees, some dug 
the trenches, some hewed the palisades ; and with 
such order and alacrity was the work urged on. 
that the Indians were lost in astonishment. INIean- 
while, Frontenac spared no pains to make friends 
of the chiefs, some of whom he had constantly at 
his table. lie fondled the Iroquois children, and 
gave them bread and sweetmeats, and, in the even- 
ing, feasted the squaws, to make them dance. The 
Indians were delighted with these attentions, and 
conceived a high opinion of the new Onontio. 

On the seventeenth, when the construction of the 
fort was well advanced, Frontenac called the chiefs 
to a grand council, w^hich was held with all possi- 
ble state and ceremony. His dealing with the 
Indians, on this and other occasions, was truly ad- 
mirable. Unacquainted as he was with them, he 
seems to have had an instinctive perception of the 
treatment they required. His predecessors had 
never ventured to address the Iroquois as " Chil- 
dren," but had always styled them " Brothers " ; 
and yet the assumption of paternal authority on the 
part of Frontenac was not only taken in good part, 
but was received with apparent gratitude. The 
martial nature of the man, his clear decisive speech, 
and his frank and downright manner, backed as 
they were by a display of force which in their 
eyes was formidable, struck them with admiration, 
and gave tenfold effect to his words of kindness 



86 LA SiVLLE AND FRONTENAC. [IGVa 

They thanked him for that which from another they 
would not have endured. 

Frontenac began by again expressing his satisfac- 
tion that they had obeyed the commands of their 
Father, and come to Cataraqui to hear what he had 
to say. Then he exhorted them to embrace Christi- 
anity ; and on this theme he dwelt at length, in 
words excellently adapted to produce the desired 
effect ; words which it would be most superfluous to 
tax as insincere, though, doubtless, they lost noth- 
ing in emphasis, because in this instance con- 
science and policy aimed alike. Then, changing 
his tone, he pointed to his officers, his guard, the 
long files of the militia, and the two flatboats, 
mounted with cannon, which lay in the river near 
by. " If," he said, " your Father can come so far, 
with so great a force, through such dangerous rap- 
ids, merely to make you a visit of pleasure and 
friendship, what would he do, if you should awaken 
his anger, and make it necessary for him to punish 
his disobedient children? He is the arbiter of 
peace and war. Beware how you offend him." 
And he warned them not to molest the Indian 
allies of the French, telling them, sharply, that he 
would chastise them for the least infraction of the 
peace. 

From threats he passed to blandishments, and 
urged them to confide in his paternal kindness, say- 
ing that, in proof of his affection, he was building a 
storehouse at Cataraqui, where they could be sup- 
plied with all the goods they needed, without the 
necessity of a long and dangerous journey. He 



1673] TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. 87 

warned them against listening to bad men, who 
might seek to delude them by misrepresentations 
and ililsehoods ; and he urged them to give heed to 
none but ' men of character, like the Sieur de la 
Salle." He expressed a hope that they would suffer 
(heir childi-en to learn French from the missionaries, 
in 01 der that they and his nephews — meaning the 
French colonists — might become one people ; and 
he concluded by requesting them to give him a 
number of their children to be educated in the 
French manner, at Quebec. 

This speech, every clause of which was rein- 
forced by abundant presents, was extremely well 
received ; though one speaker reminded him that he 
had forgotten one important point, inasmuch as he 
had not told them at what prices they could obtain 
goods at Cataraqui. Frontenac evaded a precise 
answer, but promised them that the goods should be 
as cheap as possible, in view of the great difficulty 
of transportation. As to the request concerning 
their children, they said that they could not accede 
to it till they had talked the matter over in their 
villages ; but it is a striking proof of the influ- 
ence which Frontenac had gained over them, that, in 
the following year, they actually sent several of 
their children to Quebec to be educated, the girls 
among the Ursulines, and the boys in the household 
of the Governor. 

Tlirce days after the council, the Iroquois set out 
on their return ; and, as the palisades of the fort 
were now finished, and the barracks nearly so, Fron- 
tenac began to send his party homeward by detach- 



88 LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. [1673 

ments. He himself was detained, for a time, by 
the arrival of another band of Iroquois, from the 
villages on the north side of Lake Ontario. He 
repeated to them the speech he had made to the 
others ; and, this final meeting over, embarked with 
his guard, leaving a sufficient number to hold the 
fort, which was to be provisioned for a year by 
means of a convoy, then on its way up the river. 
Passing the rapids safely, he reached Montreal on 
the fu'st of August. 

His enterprise had been a complete success. He 
had gained every point, and, in spite of the danger- 
ous navigation, had not lost a single canoe. Thanks 
to the enforced and gratuitous assistance of the in- 
habitants, the whole had cost the king only about 
ten thousand francs, which Frontenac had advanced 
on his own credit. Though, in a commercial point 
of view, the new establishment was of very ques- 
tionable benefit to the colony at large, the Governor 
had, nevertheless, conferred an inestimable blessing 
on all Canada, by the assurance he had gained of a 
long respite from the fearful scourge of Iroquois 
hostility. " Assuredly," he writes, " I may boast of 
having impressed them at once with respect, fear, 
and good-will." ^ He adds, that the fort at Catara- 
qui, with the aid of a vessel, now building, will com- 
mand Lake Ontario, keep the peace with the 
Iroquois, and cut off the trade with the English. 
And he proceeds to say, that, by another fort at the 
mouth of the Niagara, and another vessel on Lake 
Erie, we, the French, can command all the upper 

1 Lettre de Frontenac au Ministre, 13 Nov, 1673. 



1673^.] LA SALLE AT COURT. 89 

lakes. This plan was an essential link in the 
scheme of La Salle ; and we shall soon find him 
employed in executing it. 

It remained to determine what disposition should 
be made of the new fort. For some time it was 
uncertain whether the king would not order its 
demolition, as efforts had been made to influence 
him to that effect. It was resolved, however, that, 
being once constructed, it should be allowed to 
stand ; and, after a considerable delay, a final ar- 
rangement was made for its maintenance, in the 
manner following- : In the autumn of 1674, La 
Salle went to France, with letters of strong recom- 
mendation from Frontenac.^ He was well received 
at Court ; and he made two petitions to the king ; 
the one for a patent of nobility, in considera- 
tion of his services as an explorer ; and the other 
for a grant in seignioyy of Fort Frontenac, for so he 
called the new post, in honor of his patron. On 
his part, he offered to pay back the ten thousand 
francs which the fort had cost the king ; to main- 
tain it at his own charge, with a garrison equal to 
that of Montreal, besides fifteen or twenty laborers ; 
to form a French colony around it ; to build a 
chiu'ch, whenever the number of inhabitants should 
reach one hundred ; and, meanwhile, to support one 

i In his despatch to the minister Colbert, of tlie fourteentli of Novem- 
ber, 1G74, Frontenac speaks of L;i Salle as follows : " I cannot lieli>, ^lon- 
Beigneur, recommending to you the Sieur de la Salle, who is about to go 
to France, and who is a man of intelligence and ability, — more capable 
than anybody else I know here, to accomplish every kind of enleri)nso 
and discovery which may be entrusted to him, — as he has the most i)er- 
fect knowledge of the state of the country, as you will see if you are dis* 
posed to give him a few moments of audience." 

8* 



90 LA SALLE AND FKONTENAC. [1675. 

or more E,ecolIet friars ; and, finally, to form a set- 
tlement of domesticated Indians in the neii^hbor- 
hood. His offers were accepted. He was raised 
to the rank of the untitled nobles : received a grant 
of the fort, and lands adjacent, to the extent of four 
leagues in front and half a league in depth, be- 
sides the neighboring islands ; and was invested with 
the government of the fort and settlement, subject 
to the orders of the Governor-General.^ 

La Salle returned to Canada, proprietor of a 
seigniory, which, all things considered, was one of 
the most valuable in the colony. Tt was now that 
his family, rejoicing in his good fortune, and not 
unwilling to share it, made him large advances of 
money, enabling him to pay the stipulated sum to 
the king, to rebuild the fort in stone, maintain sol- 
diers and laborers, and procure in part, at least, the 
necessary outfit. Had La Salle been a mere mer- 
chant, he was in a fair Avay to make a fortune, for he 
was in a position to control the better part of the 
Canadian fur trade. But he was not a mere mer- 
chant ; and no commercial profit could content the 
broad ambition that urged his scheming brain. 

Those may believe, who will, that Frontenac did 
not expect a share in the profits of the new post. 
That he did expect it, there is positive evidence, for 



■• Hfc'nwire pour I'entretien dti Fort Frovtcnac, par le S''- de la Salle, 1G74. 
MS. Pc/ition du S""- de la Sitlle an Roi, MS. Leltres paienlex de concession 
du Fori de Frodenac ct terrcx odjacenles an profit da S''- de la Salle ; doiiii(fcs 
a Compie<ine le 13 ^[ai, 1G75, MS. Arril qui accepte les offres fiiites par 
Robert Cacelier S''- dc la Salle; a Compihjne le 13 Mai, 1675, MS. Lctlres 
de noblesse pour le S''- Cavclier de la Salle ; doniie'es a Compiegne le lo Mai, 
1675, MS. Papiers de Fumille ; Manoire au Roi, MS. 



1G75.] TRADE OF LAKE ONTARIO. 91 

a deposition is extant, taken at the instance of his 
enemy, the Intendant Duchcsneau, in which three 
witnesses attest that the Governor. La Salle, his 
lieutenant La Forest, and one Boisseau, had 
foi-mcd a partnership to carry on the trade of 
Fort F'rontenac. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

1674-1678. 
LA SALLE AND TPIE JESUITS. 

The Abbe Fenjslon. — He attacks the Goveusou. — The Enemies cf 
La Salle. — Aims of the Jesuits. — Their Hostility to La Salle. 

A CURIOUS incident occiiiTed soon after the build- 
ing of the fort on Lake Ontario. A violent quarrel 
had taken place between Frontenac and Perrot, the 
Governor of Montreal, whom, in view of his specu- 
lations in the fur-trade, he seems to have regarded 
as a rival in business; but who, by his folly and 
arrogance, would have justified any reasonable 
measure of severity. Frontenac, however, was not 
reasonable. He arrested Pcrrot, threw him into 
prison, and set up a man of his own as governor in 
his place ; and, as the judge of INIontreal was not 
in his interest, he removed him, and substituted 
another, on whom he could rely. Thus for a time 
he had Montreal well in hand. 

The priests of the Seminary, seigneurs of the 
island, regarded these arbitrary proceedings with 
extreme uneasiness. They claimed the right of 
nominating their own governor ; and Perrot, though 



1674.] ABB£ F:fcNELON. 9b 

he held a commission from the king, owed his place 
to their appointment. True, he had set them at 
nought, and proved a veritable King Stork, yet nev- 
ertheless they regarded his removal as an infringe- 
ment of their rights. 

During the quarrel with Perrot, La Salle chanced 
to be at Montreal, lodged in the house of Jacques 
Le Ber ; who, though one of the principal mer- 
chants and most influential inhabitants of the set- 
tlement, was accustomed to sell goods across his 
counter in person to white men and Indians, his 
wife taking his place when he was absent. Such 
were the primitive manners of the secluded little 
colony. Le Ber, at this time, was in the interest 
of Frontenac and La Salle ; though he afterwards 
became one of their most determined opponents. 
Amid the excitement and discussion occasioned by 
Perrot's arrest, La Salle declared himself an adhe- 
rent of the Governor, and warned all persons against 
speaking ill of him in his hearing. 

The Abbe Fenelon, already mentioned as half- 
brother to the famous Archbishop, had attempted 
to mediate between Frontenac and Perrot; and to 
this end had made a journey to Quebec on the ice, 
in midwinter. Being of an ardent temperament, 
and more courageous than prudent, he had spoken 
somewhat indiscreetly, and had been very roughly 
treated by the stormy and imperious Count. He 
returned to Montreal greatly excited, and not Avith- 
out cause. It fell to his lot to preach the Easter 
sermon. The service was held in the little church 
of the Hotel-Dieu, which was crou ded to the porch, 



91 LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. [1674. 

all the chief persons of the settlement being present. 
The cure of the parish, whose name also was Per- 
rot, said High Mass, assisted by La Salle's brother, 
Cavclier, and two other priests. Then Fenelon 
mounted the pulpit. Certain passages of his ser- 
mon were obviously levelled against Frontenac. 
Speaking of the duties of those clothed with tem- 
poral authority, he said that the magistrate, inspired 
with the spu'it of Christ, was as ready to pardon 
offences against himself as to punish those against 
his prince ; that he was full of respect for the min- 
isters of the altar, and never maltreated them when 
they attempted to reconcile enemies and restore 
peace ; that he never made favorites of those who 
flattered him, nor under specious pretexts oppressed 
other persons m authority who opposed his enter 
prises ; that he used his power to serve his king, 
and not to his own advantage ; that he remained 
content with his salary, without disturbing the com- 
merce of the country, or abusing those who refused 
him a share in their profits ; and that he never 
troubled the people by inordinate and unjust levies 
of men and material, using the name of his prince 
as a cover to his own designs.^ 

La Salle sat near the door, but as the preacher 
proceeded, he suddenly rose to his feet in such a 
manner as to attract the notice of the congregation. 
As they turned then* heads, he signed to the princi- 
pal persons among them,, and by his angry looks 

1 Faillon, Colonie Franqaise, iii. 497, .and manuscript authorities there 
cited. I have examined the principal of these. Faillon himself is a 
priest of St. Sulpice. Compare IL Verreau, Les Deux Abbes de Fenelon, 
chap. vii. 



1674.1 F^NELON'S RECALL. 95 

and gesticulation called their attention to the words 
of Fenelon. Then meeting the eye of the cure, 
who sat beside the altar, he made the same signs 
to him, to which the cure replied by a deprecating 
shrug of the shoulders. Fenelon changed color, 
but continued his sermon.^ 

This indecent procedure of La Salle filled the 
priests with anxiety, for they had no doubt that the 
sermon would speedily be reported to Frontenac. 
Accordingly they made all haste to disavow it, and 
their letter to that effect was the first information 
which the Governor received of the aifair. He 
summoned the ofi'ender to Quebec, to answer a 
charge of seditious language, before the Supreme 
Council. Fenelon appeared accordingly, but de- 
nied the jurisdiction of the Council ; claiming that 
as an ecclesiastic it was his right to be tried by the 
Bishop. By way of asserting this right, he seated 
himself in presence of his judges, and put on his 
hat ; and being rebuked by Frontenac, who pre- 
sided, he pushed it on farther." He was placed 
under arrest, and soon after required to leave Can- 
ada ; but the king accompanied the recall with a 
sharp word of admonition to his too strenuous lieu- 
tenant.^ 



^ Tnformation /aide par nous, Charles Ze Tard'ieu, Siextr de TiJIi/, et Nico- 
las Dupont, etc. etc., centre le S''- Ahhi^ de Fenelon, MS. Tilly and Dupont 
were sent by Frontenac to inquire into the affair. Among tlie deponents 
is La Salle himself. 

2 The Council always held its session with hats on. It seems that a 
priest, summoned before it as a witness, was also entitled to wear his hat, 
and Fc'nelon maintained that it had no right to require him to appear be- 
fore it in any other character. 

3 Leitre da Roi a Frontenac, 22 Avril, 1675, MS. 



96 LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. [1674-8 

This affair gives us a glimpse of the distracted 
state of the colony, racked by the discord of con- 
flicting interests and passions. There were the 
quarrels of rival traders, the quarrels of priests 
among themselves, of priests with the civil authori 
ties, and of the civil authorities among themselves. 
Prominent, if not paramount, among the occasions 
of strife, were the schem.es of Cavelier de La Salle. 
All the traders not interested with him leagued to- 
gether to oppose him ; and this with an acrimony 
easily understood, when it is remembered that they 
depended for subsistence on the fur-trade, while 
La Salle had engrossed a great part of it, and 
threatened to engross far more. Duchesneau, In- 
tendant of the colony, and in that capacity almost 
as a matter of course on ill terms with the Gov- 
ernor, was joined with this party of opposition, 
with- whom he evidently had commercial interests 
in common. La Chesnaye, Le Moyne, and ulti- 
mately Le Ber, besides various others of more or 
less influence, were in the league against La Salle. 
Among them was Louis Joliet, whom his partisans 
put forward as a rival discoverer, and a foil to La 
Salle. Joliet, it will be remembered, had applied 
for a grant of land in the countries he had discov- 
ered, and had been refused. La Salle soon after 
made a similar application, and with a diff'erent re- 
sult, as will presently appear. His adherents con- 
tinually depreciated the merits of Joliet, and even 
expressed doubt of the reality, or at least the extent, 
of his discoveries. 

But there was another element of opposition to 



167^8.] PURPOSES OP THE JESUITS. 97 

La Salle, less noisy, but not less formidable, and 
this arose from the Jesuits. Prontenac hated them ; 
and they, under befitting forms of duty and courtesy, 
paid him back in the same coin. Havmg no love 
for the Governor, they would naturally have little 
for his partisan amdi protege ; but their opposition 
had another and a deeper root, for the plans of the 
darmg young schemer jarred with their own. 

We have seen the Canadian Jesuits in the early 
apostolic days of their mission, when the flame of 
their zeal, fed by an ardent hope, burned bright 
imd high. This hope was doomed to disappoint- 
ment. Their avowed purpose of building another 
Paraguay on the borders of the Great Lakes^ was 
never accomplished, and theh missions and theu* 
converts were swept away in an avalanche of ruin. 
Still, they would not despair. From the Lakes 
they turned their eyes to the Valley of the Missis- 
sippi, in the hope to see it one day the seat of their 
new empire of the Faith. But what did this new 
Paraguay mean \ It meant a little nation of con- 
verted and domesticated savages, docile as children, 
under the paternal and absolute rule of Jesuit 
fathers, and trained by them in industrial pursuits, 
the results of which were to inure, not to the profit 
of the producers, but to the building of churches, 
the founding of colleges, the establishment of ware- 
houses and magazines, and the construction of 
works of defence, — all controlled by Jesuits, and 
forming a part of the vast possessions of the Order. 

* This purpose is several times indicated in tlie Relations. For an in- 
stance, see " Jesuits in North America, " 153. 

'J 



08 LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. [1674-8. 

Such was the old Paraguay/ and such, we may sup- 
pose, would have been the new, had the plans of 
those who designed it been realized. • 

I have said that since the middle of the century 
the religious exaltation of the early missions had 
sensibly declined. In the nature of things, that 
grand enthusiasm was too intense and fervent to 
be long sustained. But the vital force of Jesuitism 
had suffered no diminution. That marvellous esiwit 
de corps, that extinction of self, and absorption of 
the individual in the Order, which has marked the 
Jesuits from their first existence as a body, was 
no whit changed or lessened ; a principle, wliich, 
though different, was no less strong than the self- 
devoted patriotism of Sparta or the early Roman 
llepublic. 

The Jesuits were no longer supreme in Canada, 
or, in other words, Canada was no longer simply 
a mission. It had become a colony. Temporal in- 
terests and the civil power were constantly gaining 
ground ; and the disciples of Loyola felt that rela- 
tively, if not absolutely, they were losing it. They 
struggled vigorously to maintain the ascendancy of 
their Order; or, as they would have expressed it, 
the ascendancy of religion : but in the older and 
more settled parts of the colony it was clear that 
the day of their undivided rule was past. There- 
fore, they looked with redoubled solicitude to tlieir 
missions in the West. They had been among its 
first explorers ; and they hoped that here the Catli- 

1 Compare Charlevoix, Iliotoire de Paragua'j, with Robertson, Leitert 
on Pamyuciy. 



1674-8.] FRONTENAC'S OPPOSITION. 99 

olic Faith, as represented by Jesuits, mig-ht reign 
with undisputed sway. In Paraguay, it was their 
constant aim to exchide white men from their mis- 
sions. It was the same in North America., They 
dreaded fur- traders, partly because they interfered 
with their teachings and perverted their converts, 
and partly for other reasons. But La Salle was a 
fur-trader, and far worse than a fur-trader, — he 
aimed at occupation, fortification, settlement. The 
scope and vigor of his enterprises, and the powerful 
influence that aided them made him a stumbling- 
block in their path. As they would have put the 
case, it was the spirit of this world opposed to the 
spirit of religion ; but I may perhaps be pardoned 
if I am constrained to think that the spirit which 
inspu'ed these fathers was not uniformly celestial, 
notwithstanding the virtues which sometimes illus- 
trated it. 

Frontenac, in his letters to the Court, is contin- 
ually begging that more Recollet friars may be sent 
to Canada.^ Not that he had any peculiar fondness 
for ecclesiastics of any kind, regular or secular, 
white, black, or gray ; but he wanted the Rccollets 
to oppose to the Jesuits. He had no fear of these 
mendicant disciples of St. Francis. Far less able 
and less ambitious than the Jesuits, he knew that 
he could manage them, because they would need 
his support against their formidable rivals. La 
Salle, too, wanted more Kecollets, and for the same 

1 Tlie Rccollets, ejected from Canada on the irruption of tlie English 
in 1629 (see " Pioneers of France in the New World "), had not been al- 
lowed to return until 1669, when their missions were begun anew. 



100 LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. [1674-8 

reason ; but in one point he differed from his patron. 
He was a man, not only of regulated life, but of 
strong religious feeling, and, bating his violent 
prepossession against the Jesuits, he respected the 
Church and its ministers, as his letters and his life 
attest. Thus, in replying to a charge of undue se- 
verity towards some of his followers, he alleges in 
his justification the profane language of the men 
in question, and adds, " I am a Christian ; I will 
have no blasphemers in my camp." ^ 

1 Letter of La Salle in the bands of M. Margry. 



CHAPTER Vm. 

1678. 

PAETY STRIFE. 

La Sallk and his Reporter. — Jesuit Ascendancy. — The Missions 
AND THE Fur-Trade. — Female Inquisitors. — Plots agaixst La 
Salle. — His Brotiiek the Priest. — Intrigues of the Jesuits. — 
La Salle poisoned. — He exculpates the Jesuits. — Renewed 
Intrigues. 

One of the most curious monuments of La Salle s 
time is a long memoir, written by a person who 
made his acquaintance at Paris, in the summer of 
1678, when, as we shall soon see, he had returned 
to France, in prosecution of his plans. The writer 
knew the Sulpitian Galinee,^ who, as he says, had 
a very high opinion of La Salle ; and he was also 
in close relations with the discoverer's patron, the 
Prince de Conti.^ He says that he had ten or 
tv/elve interviews with La Salle, and becoming in- 
terested in him and in that which he communicated, 
he wrote down the substance of his conversation. 
The paper is divided into two parts, — the first, 
called " Memohe sur Mr. de la Salle," is devoted 

1 Ante, p. 11. 

2 Louis-Armand de Bourbon, second Prince de Conti. I am strongly 
inclined to think that this nobleman himself is autlior of the memoir. 

9* 



102 PARTY STRIFE. [1(578. 

to the state of affairs in Canada, and chiefly to the 
Jesuits ; the second, entitled " Histoire de Mr. de 
la Salle," is an account of the discoverer's life, or 
as much of it as the writer had learned from, him 
Both parts bear throughout the internal evidenct- 
of being what they profess to be ; but they embody 
the statements of a man of intense partisan feeling, 
transmitted through the mind of another person 
in sympathy with him, and evidently sharing his 
prepossessions. In one respect, however, the papei 
is of unquestionable historical value ; for it gives 
us a vivid and not an exaggerated picture of the 
bitter strife of parties which then raged in Canada, 
and which was destined to tax to the utmost the 
vast energy and fortitude of La Salle. At times the 
memoir is fully sustained by contemporary evidence ; 
but often, again, it rests on its own unsupported 
authority. I give an abstract of its statements as 
I find them. 

The following is the writer's account of La Salle : 
" All those among my friends who have seen him 
find in him a man of great intelligence and sense. 
He rarely speaks of any subject except when ques- 
tioned about it, and his words are very few and 
very precise. He distinguishes perfectly between 
that which he knows with certainty and that which 
he knows with some mingling of doubt. When he 
does not know, he does not hesitate to avow it, and 
though I have heard him say the same thing more 
than five or six times, when persons were present 

1 Extracts from this have already been given in connection with La 
Salle's supposed discovery of the Mississippi. Ante, p. 20. 



1678.] JESUIT ASCENDANCY. 103 

who had not heard it before, he always said it in 
the same manner. In short, I never heard anybody 
speak whose words carried with them more marks 
of truth." ^ 

After mentioning that he is thirty-three or thirty- 
four years old, and that he has been twelve years 
m America, the memoir declares that he made the 
folio v/ing statements, — that the Jesuits are masters 
at Quebec ; that the Bishop is their creature, and 
docs nothing but in concert with them ; - that he is 
not well inclined towards the Recollets,^ who have 
little credit, but who are protected by Frontenac ; 
that in Canada the Jesuits think everybody an ene- 
my to religion who is an enemy to them ; that, 
though they refused absolution to all who sold 
brandy to the Indians, they sold it themselves, and 



J Tons ceux de mes amis qui I'ont vu luy trouve beaucoup d'csprit et 
un tres grand sens; il ne parle guercs quo dos clioscs sur lesqucllcs on 
I'intcrroge ; 11 les dlt en trcs-peu de mots ct tres-bicn clrconstancics ; 11 <lis- 
tingue parfaitemont ce qu'U scait avec certitude, de ce qu'il scait avec 
quelque melange de doute. II avoue sans aucune faoon ne pas savoir ce 
qu'il ne scait pas, et quoyque je lui aj'e ouy dire plus de cinq ou six fois 
les mesme clioses a i'occasion de quelques personncs qui nc les avaicnt 
poiit encore entenducs, jo los luy ay toujours ouy dire de la mcsme 
maniore. En un mot je n'ay jamais ouy parlor personne dont les paroles 
portassent plus do marques de ve'ritc." 

- " II y a ime autre chose qui me dcplait, qui est rcntiere dependence 
dins laquelle les Trctros du Scminairo de Quebec et le Grand Vicaire de 
TEveque sent pour les Peres Jesuites, car il ne fait pas la moindro ciiose 
sans leur ordro; ce qui fait qu'indirectement ils sont les maitres de ce qui 
regarde le spirituol, qui, comme vous savez, est une grando machine pour 
leniuer tout le reste. — Lettre de Frontenac a Colbert, 2 Nov. 1G72. 

3 " Ces rc'ligieux (les Rc'collets) sont fort proteges partout par le comte 
de Frontenac, gouverneur du pays, et a cause de cola assez maltraitc's par 
revesque, parcequo la doctrine de I'cvesque et des Jesuites est que les 
affaires de la Religion chrestienne n'iront point bien dans ce pays-lii que 
quanJ le gouverneur sera crc'ature des Jesuites, ou que I'evesque sera 
gouverneur." — Memoire sur M'- de la Salle. 



104 PARTY STRIFE. [1678. 

that he, La Salle, had himself detected them in 
it ; ^ that the Bishop laughs at the orders of the 
king when they do not agree with the wishes of 
the Jesuits ; that the Jesuits dismissed one of their 
servants named Robert, because he told of their 
trade in brandy ; that Albanel,^ in particular, carried 
on a great fur-trade, and that the Jesuits have built 
their college in part from the profits of this kind of 
traffic ; that they admitted that they carded on a 
trade, but denied that they gained so much by it 
as was commonly supposed.^ 

The memoir proceeds to affirm that they trade 
largely with the Sioux, at Ste. Marie, and with 
otlier tribes at Michillimackinac, and that they are 
masters of the trade of that region, where the forts 

1 "lis (les Jesuites) rcfusent I'absolution h. ceux qui ne veulent pas 
promettre de n'en plus vendre (de rc.iu-de-vie), et s'ils meurent en cet ctat, 
ils les privent de la sepulture eccle'siastique ; au eontraire ils se permettent 
h. eux-niOmes sans aucune difBcultc ce mesrae trafic quoique tout sorte de 
trafic soit interdit a tons les ecclc'siastiques par les ordonnances du Eoy, et 
par une bulle expresse du Pape. La Bulle et les ordonnances sont notoire.s, 
et quoyqu'ils cachont le trafic qu'ils font d'cau-de-vie, M. de la Salle pretend 
qu'il ne Test pas moins ; qu' outre la notorietc il en a des preuves certaines, 
et qu'il les a surpi-is dans ce trafic, et qu'ils luy ont tendu des pieges pour 
I'y surprendre ... Ils ont cliasse leur valet Robert a cause qu'il rc'vc'la 
qu'ils en traitaient jour et nuit." — Ibid. The writer says tbat he makes 
this last statement, not on the authority of La Salle, but on that of a 
memoir made at the time when the Intendant, Talon, with whom lie else- 
where snys that he was well acquainted, rtturned to France. A great 
number of particulars are added respecting the Jesuit trade in furs. 

2 Albanel was prominent among th-e Jesuit explorers at this time. He 
is best known by his journe}- up the Paguenay to Hudson's Bay in 1672. 

3 " Pour vous parler franchement, ils (les Jesuites) songent autant a la 
conversion du Castor qu'a celle des times." — Leitre de Frontenac a Colbert, 
2 Nov. 1672. 

In his despatch of the next j'ear, he says that the Jesuits ought to con- 
tent themselves with instructing t'.ie Indians in their old missions, instead 
of neglecting them to make new '(Ties, in countries where there are " more 
beaver-skins to gain than souls to sav? 



1678.] TRADE OF THE JESUITS. 105 

are in their possession.' An Indian said, in full 
council, at Quebec, that he had prayed and been a 
Christian as long as the Jesuits would sta)^ and 
teach him, but since no more beaver were left in 
his country, the missionaries were gone also. The 
Jesuits, pursues the memoir, will have no priests 
but themselves in their missions, and call them all 
.lansenists, not excepting the priests of St. Sulpicc. 
The bishop is next accused of harshness and in 
tolerance, as well as of growing rich by tithes, and 
even by trade, in which it is affirmed he has a covert 
interest.^ It is added that there exists in Quebec, 
under the auspices of the Jesuits, an association 
called the Sainte Famille, of which Madame Bour- 
don^ is superior. They meet in the cathedral every 
Thursday, with closed doors, where they relate to 
each other — as they are bound by a vow to do — all 
they have learned, whether good or evil, concern- 
ing other people, during the week. It is a sort of 
female inquisition, for the benefit of the Jesuits, 
the secrets of whose friends, it is said, are kept, 
while no such discretion is observed with regard to 
persons not of their party.'' 

1 Tliese forts were built by them, and were necessary to the security 
of their missions. 

2 Fran(;ois Xavier de Laval-Montmorency, first bishop of Quebec, wns 
a prelate of austere character. His memory is clierislied in Canada by 
adliorents of tlie Jesuits and all ultramontane Catholics. 

^ 1 his Madame Bourdon was the widow of Bourdon, the engineer, 
(see "Jesuits in North America," 299). If we maj' credit the letters of 
Marie do Tlncarnation, she had married him from a religious motive, in 
order to charge herself with the care of his motherless children ; stipulating 
in advance that he should live with her, not as a husband, but as a 
brother. As may be imagined, she was regarded as a most devout and 
Baint-like person. 

* " II y a dans Quebec une congregation de femmes et de filles ""'liit 



106 PARTY STRIFE. [1678. 

Here follow a series of statements, which it is 
needless to repeat, as they do not concern La Salle. 
They relate to abuse of the confessional, hostility 
to other priests, hostility to civil authorities, and 
over-hasty baptisms, in regard to which La Salle is 
reported to have made a comparison, unf\ivorable 
to the Jesuits, between them and the Hecollets and 
Sulpitians. 

We now come to the second part of the memoir, 
entitled " History of Monsieur de la Salle." After 
stating that he left France at the age of twenty-one 
or twenty-two, with the purpose of attempting sorce 
new discovery, it makes the statements repeated in 
a former chapter, concerning his discovery of the 
Ohio, the Illinois, and possibly the Mississippi. It 

(los Jesuites) appcllent la sainto famille, clans laqucllc on fait vocii siir lea 
Saintes Evangiles de dire tout ce qii'on sait do bicn et do nial des per- 
sonnes qu'on connoist. La Supciicnrc de cette ooinpngnle s'appelle Mad- 
ame Bourdon ; une M'''^- Daillebout est, je crois, I'assistante et inic M''"^- 
Charron, la Trc'soricre. La conipagnie s'asscnible tons les Jeudis dans la 
Calhcdrale, a porte fermce, et la ellos so disent Ics unes aux autres tout 
ce qu'elles ont appris. Cost une espece d'Inquisition contre toutes les per- 
sonnes qui nc soiit pas unies avcc les Jesuites. Ces pcrsonues sont accusJes 
de tenir secret ce qu'elles appronncnt de nial des personncs de leur \r.uty et 
de n'avoir pas la mesmc discretion pour les autres." — Mcmolre sur M'- de 
la Siille. 

^J'he Madame Daillebout mentioned aLove was a devotee like I\Lidame 
Bouidfin, and, in one respect, her history was similar. See "Jesuits in 
Nortli America," p. 2G5. 

. The association of the Sainte Famille, composed entirely of women, 
was founded by the Jesuit Cliaumonot at Montreal in 1G03. Laval, 
Bishop of Quebec, afterwards encouraged its cstablislmicnt at that place; 
and, as Cliaumonot himself writes, caused it to be attached to the cathe- 
dral. — Vie de Cliaumonot, 83. For its estahlishinont at Montreal, Faiilon, 
Vie de il/"«- Mance, i. 233. 

"lis (les Jesuites) ont tons une si grande eiivie de savoir tout ce qui 
se fait dans les families qu'ils ont des Inspecteurs a gages dans la Ville, qui 
leur rapportent tout ce qui se fait dans les maisons, ' etc., etc. — Lcttie de 
Frcntenac au Ministre, 13 Nov. 1673. 



1678.] INTRIGUES AGAINST LA SALLE. 107 

then mentions the building of Fort Frontenac, and 
says that one object of it was to prevent the Jesuits 
from becoming undisputed masters of the fur-trade.' 
Three years ago, it pursues, La Salle came to 
France, and obtained a grant of the fort ; and it 
proceeds to give examples of the means used by the 
party opposed to him to injure his good name, and 
bring him within reach of the law. Once, when 
he was at Quebec, the farmer of the king's reve- 
nue, one of the richest men in the place, was ex- 
tremely urgent in his proffers of hospitality, and at 
length, though he knew him but slightly, per- 
suaded him to lodge in his house. He had been 
here but a few days when his host's wife began to 
enact the part of the wife of Potiphar, and this with 
so much vivacity, that on one occasion La Salle was 
forced to take an abrupt leave, in order to avoid an 
infringement of the laws of hospitality. As he 
opened the door, he found the husband on the 
watch, and saw that it was a plot to entrap him.^ 

Another attack, of a different character, though 
in the same direction, was soon after made. The 
remittances which La Salle received from the vari 
ous members and connections of his fjimily were 
sent through the hands of his brother, the Abbe 
Cavelier, from w^hom his enemies were, therefore, 
very eager to alienate him. To this end, a report 
was made to reach the priest's ears, that La Salle 
tiad seduced a young woman, with whom he was 

• IMention has Leen made (p. 81, note) of the report set on foot by the 
result Dabloii, to prevent the buiUling of the fort. 

2 Tliis story is told at considerable lengtli, and the advances of the 
l.idy parlicuhirly described. 



108 PARTY STRIFE. [1G78 

living, in an open and scandalous manner, at Fort 
Frontenac. The effect of this device exceeded the 
wishes of its contrivers ; for the priest, aghast at 
what he had heard, set out for the fort, to adminis- 
ter his fraternal rebuke ; but, on arriving, in place 
of the expected abomination, found his brother, 
assisted by two Recollet friars, ruling, with edifying 
propriety, over a most exemplary household. 

Thus far the memoir. From passages in some 
of La Salle's letters, it may be gathered that the 
Abbe Cavelier gave him at times no little annoy- 
ance. In his double character of priest and elder 
brother, he seems to have constituted himself the 
counsellor, monitor, and guide of a man, who, 
though many years his junior, was in all respects 
incomparably superior to him, as the sequel will 
show. This must have been almost insufferable to 
a nature like that of La Salle ; who, nevertheless, 
was forced to arm himself with patience, since his 
brother held the purse-strings. On one occasion, 
his forbearance was put to a severe proof, when, 
wishing to marry a damsel of good connections in 
the colony, the Abbe Cavelier saw fit, for some rea- 
son, to interfere, and prevented the alliance.^ 

To resume the memoir. It declares that the 
Jesuits procured an ordinance from the Supreme 
Council, prohibiting traders from going into the 
Indian country, in order that they, the Jesuits 
being already established there in their missions, 
might carry on trade without competition. But 
La Salle induced a good number of the Iroquois to 

I Letter of La Salle in possession of M. Margiy. 



1678.] LA SALLE POISONED. 109 

settle around his fort ; thus bringing the trade to his 
own door, without breaking the ordinance. These 
Iroquois, he is farther reported to have said, were 
very fond of him, and aided him in rebuilding the 
fort with cut stone. The Jesuits told the Iroquois 
on the south side of the lake, where they were es- 
tablished as missionaries, that La Salle was strength- 
ening- his defences, with the view of making war on 
them. They and the Intendant, who was their creat- 
ure, endeavored to embroil the Iroquois with the 
French, in order to ruin La Salle; writing to him at 
the same time that he was the bulwark of the 
country, and that he ought to be always on his 
guard. They also tried to persuade Frontenac that 
it was necessary to raise men and prepare for war. 
La Salle suspected them, and, seeing that the Iro- 
quois, in consequence of their intrigues, were in 
an excited state, he induced the Governor to come 
to Fort Frontenac, to pacify them. He accordingly 
did so, and a council was held, which ended in a 
complete restoration of confidence on the part of 
the Iroquois.^ At this council they accused the 
two Jesuits, Bruyas and Pierron,^ of spreading re- 

1 Louis XIV. .alludes to this visit, in a letter to Frontenac, dated 28 
April, 1G77. " I cannot but approve," he writes, " of what you have done 
in 3'our voyage to Fort Frontenac, to reconcile the minds of the Five Iro- 
quois Nations, and to clear yourself from the suspicions they had enter- 
tained, and from the motives that might induce them to make war." 
Frontenac's despatches of this, as well as of the preceding and following 
years, arc missing from the archives. 

In a memoir written in November, 1680, La Salle alludes to " le desir 
quo Ton avoit que IMonseigneur le Comte de Frontenac fist la guerre aux 
Iroquois." See Thomassy, Ge'olorjie Pratique de la Loulsiane, 203. 

- Bruyas was about this time stationed among the Onondagas. 
Pierron was among the Senecas. He had lately removed to them IroiB 

10 



110 PARTY STRIFE. |1C78. 

ports that the French were preparing to attack 
them. La Salle thought that the object of the in- 
trigue was to make the Iroquois jealous of him, and 
engage Frontenac in expenses which would offend 
the king. After La Salle and the Governor had 
lost credit by the rupture, the Jesuits would come 
forward as pacificators, in the full assurance that 
they could restore quiet, and appear in the attitude 
of saviors of the colony. 

La Salle, pursues his reporter, went on to say, 
that about this time a quantity of hemlock and ver- 
digris was given him in a salad ; and that the guilty 
person was a man in his employ, named Nicolas 
Perrot, otherwise called Solycoeur, who confessed 
the crime. ^ The memoir adds that La Salle, who 
recovered from the effects of the poison, wholly ex- 
culpates the Jesuits. 

This attempt, which was not, as we shall see, the 
only one of the kind made against La Salle, is al- 
luded to by him, in a letter to the Prince de Conti, 



the Mohawk country. — Relation des Je'suites, 1673-9, p. 140 (Shea). 
Bruyas was also for a long time among the Mohawks. 

1 This puts the character of Perrot in a new light, for it is not likely 
that any other can be meant tlian tlie famous voijageur. I have found no 
mention elsewhere of the synonyme of Solycceur. Poisoning was tlie cur- 
rent crime of the day ; and persons of tlie highest rank had repeatedly 
heen charged with it. Tlie following is the passage : — 

" Quoiqu'il en soit, M>"- de la Salle se sentit quelque temps apres eni- 
poissonnc d'une salade dans laquelle on avoit mesle du ciguc, qui est poison 
en ce pays Ik, et du verd de gris. II en fut malade a I'extremite', vomis- 
sant presque continnellement 40 ou 50 jours apres, et il ne rechappa que 
par la force extreme de sa constitution. Celuy qui luy donna le poison 
fut un nomme Nicolas Perrot, autrement Solycoeur, I'un de ses domes- 
tiques. ... II pouvait faire mourir cet horame, qui a confesse son crime, 
mais 11 s'est contentc de I'enfermer les fers aux pieds." — Histoire de J/' 
de la Salle. 



K,:8 I RELATIONS WITH THE JESUITS. Ill 

written in Canada, when he was on the point of 
departure on his great expedition to descend the 
Mississippi. The following is an extract from it : 

" I hope to give myself the honor of sending you 
a more particular accoimt of this enterprise when 
it shall have had the success which I hope for 
it ; but I have need of a strong protection for its 
support. It traverses the commercial operations of 
certain persons, who will lind it hard to endure it. 
They intended to make a new Paraguay in these 
parts, and the route which I close against them 
gave them facilities for an advantageous corre- 
spondence with Mexico. This check will infalli- 
bly be a mortification to them ; and you know how 
they deal Avith whatever opposes them. Neverthe- 
less, I am hound to render iJiem the justice to say 
that the poison which was given one was not at 
all of their instigation. The person who was con- 
scious of the guilt, believing that I was their enemy 
because he saw that our sentiments were opposed, 
thought to exculpate himself by accusing them ; and 
I confess that at the time I was not sorry to have 
this indication of their ill-will : but having after- 
wards carefully examined the affair, I clearly dis- 
covered the falsity of the accusation which this 
rascal had made against them. I nevertheless par- 
doned him, in order not to give notoriety to the 
affair; as the mere suspicion might sully their rep- 
utation, to which I should scrupulously avoid doing 
the slightest injury, unless I thought it necessary to 
the good of the public, and unless the fact were 
fully proved. Therefore, Monsieui", if any one 



112 PARTY STRIFE. [1G78 

shared the suspicion which I felt, obhge me by un- 
deceiving him." ^ 

This letter, so honorable to La Salle, explains the 
statement made in the memoir, that, notwithstand- 
ing his grounds of complaint against the Jesuits he 
continued to live on terms of courtesy with them, 
entertained them at his fort, and occasionally cor- 
responded with them. The writer asserts, how- 
ever, that they intrigued with his men to induce 
them to desert ; employing for this purpose a young 
man named Deslauriers, whom they sent to him with 
letters of recommendation. La Salle took him into 
his service ; but he soon after escaped, with several 
other men, and took refuge in the Jesuit missions.^ 
The object of the intrigue is said to have been 
the reduction of La Salle's garrison to a number 
less than that which he was bound to maintain, 
thus exposing him to a forfeiture of his title of" 
possession. 

He is also stated to have declared that Louit 
Joliet was an impostor,^ and a donne of the Jes 
uits, — that is, a man who worked for them with 
out pay; and, farther, that when he. La Salle, came 

1 The following words are underlined in the original : " Je suis pom 
tant ohilijede leitr rendre uue Justice, que le poison rju'on in' avoit donne' n'c'sloi 
point de hnr instigation." — Lcitre de la Salle au Prince de Conii, 31 Oct. 1G78 

2 In a letter to the king, Frontenac mentions that several men \vh,j 
had been induced to desert from La Salle had gone to Albany, where tin 
English had received them well. — Letire de Frontenac au Roy, (3 Nov. 1079 
MS. The Jesuits had a mission in the neighboring tribe of the MohaAvks. 
and elsewhere in New York. 

* This agrees with expressions used by La Salle in a memoir addressed 
by liini to Frontenac in November, 1680, and printed by Thomass}'. In 
this he plainly intimates his belief that Joliet went but little below tiie 
mouth of the Illinois. 



1678.] RELATIONS WITH THE JESUITS. 113 

to court to ask for privileges enabling him to pursue 
his discoveries, the Jesuits represented in advance 
to the minister Colbert, that his head was turned, 
and that he was fit for nothing but a mad-house. 
It was only by the aid of influential friends that he 
Avas at length enabled to gain an audience. 

Here ends this r;inarkable memoir; which, criti- 
cise it as we may, undoubtedly contains a great 
deal of truth. 



10- 



CHAPTER IX. 

1677-1678. 

THE GRAND ENTERPRISE. 

La Salle at Foet Fkontexac. — La Salle at Court. — His Plans 
APPROVED. — Henri pe Tonty. — Peeparatiox for Departure. 

When La Salle gained possession of Fort Fron- 
tenac, he secured a base for all his future enter- 
prises. That he meant to make it a permanent one 
is clear from the pains he took to strengthen its 
defences. Within two years from the date of his 
grant he had replaced the hasty palisade fort of 
Count Frontenac by a regular work of hewn stone ; 
of which, however, only two bastions, with their 
connecting curtains, were completed, the enclosure 
on the water side being formed of pickets. W^ithin, 
there was a barrack, a well, a mill, and a bakery; 
while a wooden blockhouse guarded the gateway.' 
Near the shore, south of the fort, was a cluster of 
small houses of French hahitans ; and farther, in 
the same direction, was the Indian village. Two 
officers and a surgeon, with half a score or more of 

^ Plan of Fort Frontenac, published by Faillon, from the original sent 
to France by Denonville. 1685. 



1677-8.] FORT FRONTENAC. 115 

soldiers, made up the garnson ; and three or four 
times that number of masons, laborers, and canoe- 
men, were at one time maintained at the fort.^ Be- 
sides these, there were two Recollet friars, Luc 
Buisset and Louis Hennepin ; of whom the latter 
was but indifferently suited to his apostolic func- 
tions, as we shall soon discover. La Salle built a 
house for them, near the fort ; and they turned a 
part of it into a chapel. 

Partly for trading on the lake, partly with a view 
to ulterior designs, he caused four small decked 
vessels to be built : but, for ordinary uses, canoes 
best served his purpose ; and his followers became 
so skilful in managing them, that they were reputed 
the best canoe-men in America.^ Feudal lord of 
the forests around him, commander of a garrison 
raised and paid by himself, founder of the mission, 
patron of the church, La Salle reigned the autocrat 
of his lonely little empire. 

But he had no thought of resting here. He had 
gained what he sought, a fulcrum for bolder and 
broader action. His plans were ripened and his 
time was come. He was no longer a needy adven- 
turer, disinherited of all but his fertile brain and 
liis intrepid heart. He had won place, influence, 
credit, and potent friends. Now, at length, l.e 



1 Etal de la d€pense fnite par M^- de la Salle, Goitverneur du Fort Fron- 
tennc, MS. When Frontenac was at the fort in September, 1677, he found 
only four habitans. It appears by the Relation des Decoiwertes da S''- de la 
Salle, that, three or four years later, there were thirteen or fourteen fami- 
lies. La Salle spent 34,426 francs on the fort. — M^moire au Roy, Papiers 
de Famille, MSS. 

2 Relation des Deconvertes, MS. Hennepin repeats the statement. 



116 THE GRAND ENTERPRISE. [1677-8. 

might hope to find the long-sought path to China 
and Japan, and secure for France those boundless 
regions of the West, in whose watery highways he 
saw his road to wealth, renown, and power. Again 
he sailed for France, bearing, as before, letters from 
Frontenac, commending him to the king and the 
minister. We have seen that he was denounced 
in advance as a madman ; but Colbert at length 
gave him a favoring ear, and granted his petition. 
Perhaps he read the man before him, living only in 
the conception and achievement of great designs, 
and armed with a courage that not the Fates noi 
the Furies themselves could appall. 

La Salle was empowered to pursue his proposed 
discoveries at his own expense, on condition of 
completing them within five years ; to build forts 
in the new-found countries, and hold possession of 
them on terms similar to those already granted him 
in the case of Fort Frontenac ; and to monopolize 
the trade in buffalo skins, a new branch of com- 
merce, by which, as he urged, the plains of the 
Mississippi would become a source of copious 
wealth. But he was expressly forbidden to carry 
on trade with the Ottawas and other tribes of the 
Lakes, who were accustomed to bring their furs to 
Montreal.^ 

Again La Salle's wealthy relatives came to his 
aid, and large advances of money were made to 
him.' He bought supplies and engaged men ; and 

1 Permission au S''- de la Salle de d^couvm- la partie occidentale de la Non- 
velle France, 12 May, 1678, MS. Signed Colbert ; not, as Charlevoix says, 
Seignelai/. 

^ la the memorial which La Salle's relations presented to the king 



1678.] HENRI DE TONTY 111 

in July, 1678, sailed again for Canada, with thirty 
followers, — sailors, carpenters, and laborers, — an 
abundant store of anchors, cables, and rigging ; 
iron tools, merchandise for trade, and all things 
necessary for his enterprise. There was one man 
of his party worth all the rest combined. Tho 
Prince de Conti had a protege in the person of 
Henri de Tonty, an Italian officer, one of whose 
hands had been blown off by a grenade in the 
Sicilian wars. His father, who had been Governor 
of Gaeta, but who had come to France in conse- 
quence of political convulsions in Naples, had earned 
no small reputation as a financier, and devised 
the form of life insurance known as the Tontine. 
The Prince de Conti recommended the son to La 
Salle ; and, as the event proved, he could not have 
done him a better service. La Salle learned to 
know his new lieutenant on the voyage across the 
Atlantic ; and, soon after reaching Canada, he wrote 
of him to his patron in the following terms : " His 
honorable character and his amiable disposition 
were well known to you ; but perhaps you would 
not have thought him capable of doing things for 
which a strong constitution, an acquaintance with 
the country, and the use of both hands seemed ab- 
solutely necessary. Nevertheless, his energy and 
address make him equal to any thing; and now, at a 

after his death, they say that, on this occasion, " ses fr&res et ses parents 
n'cpargnerent rien." It is added that between 1678 and 1083 his enter- 
prises cost the family more tlian 500,000 francs. By a memorandum of 
his cousin, rran9ois Plet, M.D., of Paris, it appears that La Salle gava 
him, on the 27th and 28th of June, 1G78, two promissory notes of 9,805 
francs and 1,676 francs respectively. 



1 18 THE GRAND ENTERPRISE. fl678. 

season when everybody is in fear of the ice, he is 
setting out to begin a new fort, two hundred leagues 
from this place, and to which I have taken the lib- 
erty to give the name of Fort Conti. It is situated 
near that great cataract, more than a hundred and 
twenty toises in height, by which the lakes of high- 
er elevation precipitate themselves into Lake Fron- 
tenac [Ontario]. From there one goes by water, 
five hundred leagues, to the place where Fort 
Dauphin is to be begun, from which it only remains 
to descend the great river of the Bay of St. Esprit 
to reach the Gulf of Mexico." ^ 

Besides Tonty, La Salle found another ally, 
though a less efficient one, in the person of the 
Sieur de la Motte ; and at Quebec, where he was 
detained for a time, he found Father Louis Henne- 
pin, who had come down from Fort Frontenac to 
meet him. 



1 Leftre de Ln Salle au Prince de Conti, 31 Oct. 1678, MS. Fort Conti 
was to liave been built on tlie site of the present Fort Niagara. Tlie 
name of Lac de Conti was given by La Salle to Lalce Erie. Tlie fort 
mentioned as Fort Daupliin was built, as we shall see, on the Illinois, 
though under another name. La Salle, deceived by Spanish maps, 
thought that the Mississippi discharged itself into the Baj- of St. Esprit 
(Mobile Bay). 

Henri de Tonty signed his name in the Gallicised, and not in the orig- 
inal Italian form, Tonli. He wore a hand of iron or some other metal, 
which was usually covered with a glove. La Potherie sa3's that he once 
or twice used it to good purpose when the Indians became disorderly, in 
breaking the heads of the most contumacious or knocking out their teeth. 
Not knowing at the time the secret of the unusual efficacy of liis blows, 
they regarded him as a " medicine " of the first order. La Potherie 
ascribes the loss of his hand to a sabre-cut received in a sortie at Messina , 
but Tonty, in his Memoire, says, as above, that it was blown oflf. 



CHAPTER X. 

• 1678-1679. 

LA SALLE AT NIAGARA, 

Father Louis Hennepin. — His Past Life; his Character. — Embark- 
ation. — Niagara Falls. — Indian Jealousy. — La Motte and the 
Senegas. — A Disaster. — La Salle and his Followers. 

Hennepin was all eagerness to join in the ad- 
venture, and, to his great satisfaction, La Salle g-ave 
him a letter from his Provincial, Father Le Pevre, 
containing the coveted permission. Whereupon, 
to prepare himself, he went into retreat, at the 
Kecollet convent of Quebec, where he remained 
for a time in such prayer and meditation as his 
nature, the reverse of spiritual, would permit. 
Frontenac, always partial to his Order, then 
invited him to dine at the chateau ; and having 
visited the Bishop and asked his blessing, he went 
down to the lower town and embarked. His vessel 
was a small birch canoe, paddled by two men. 
With sandalled feet, a coarse gray capote, and 
peaked hood, the cord of St. Francis about his 
waist, and a rosary and crucifix hanging at his 
side, the Father set forth on his memorable journey. 
He carried with him the furniture of a portable 



120 LA SALLE AT NIAGAEA. [1678 

altar, which in time of need he could strap on hia 
back, like a knapsack. 

He slowly made his way up the St. Lawrence, 
stopping here and there, where a clearing and a 
few log houses marked the feeble beginning of a 
parish and a seigniory. The settlers, though good 
Catholics, were too few and too poor to support a 
priest, and hailed the arrival of the friar with de- 
light. He said mass, exhorted a little, as was his 
custom, and, on one occasion, baptized a child. 
\t length, he reached Montreal, where the enemies 
Z)f the enterprise enticed away his two canoe-men. 
He succeeded in finding two others, with whom 
he continued his voyage, passed the rapids of the 
upper St. Lawrence, and reached Fort Fronte- 
iiac at eleven o'clock at night, of the second of 
November, where his brethren of the mission, Ri- 
bourde and Buisset, received him with open arms.' 
La Salle, Tonty, La Motte, and their party, who 
had left Quebec a few days after him, soon appeared 
at tl^e fort ; La Salle much fatigued and worn by 
the hardships of the way, or more probably by the 
labors and anxieties of preparation. He had no 
sooner arrived, than he sent fifteen men in canoes 
to Lake Michigan and the Illinois, to open a trade 
with the Indians and collect a store of provisions. 
There was a small vessel of ten tons in the harbor ; 
and he ordered La Motte to sail in her for Niagara, 
accompanied by Hennepin. 

This bold, hardy, and adventurous friar, the his- 

1 Hennepin, Description de la Louisiane (1683), 19. Ibid., Voyage Cu 
riflux (1704), 66. Ribourde liad lately arrived. 



1G78.J HENNEPIN. 121 

torian of the expedition, and a conspicuous actor in 
it, has unwittingly painted his own portrait with 
tolerable distinctness. " I always," he says, " felt 
a stronsT inclination to fly from the world and live 
according to the rules of a pure and severe virtue ; 
and it was with this view that I entered tb'3 Order 
of St. Francis." ^ He then speaks of his zeal for 
the saving of souls, but admits that a passion for 
travel and a burning desire to visit strange lands 
had no small part in his inclination for the mis- 
sions.^ Being in a convent in Artois, his superior 
sent him to Calais, at the season of the herring- 
fishery, to beg alms, after the practice of the Fran- 
ciscans. Here and at Dunkirk, he made friends of 
the sailors, and was never tired of their stories. So 
insatiable, indeed, was his appetite for them, that 
" often," he says, " I hid myself behind tavern 
doors while the sailors were telling of their voy- 
ages. The tobacco smoke made me very sick at 
the stomach ; but, notwithstanding, I listened atten- 
tively to all they said about their adventures at sea 
and their travels in distant countries. I could have 
passed whole days and nights in this way without 
eating." ^ 

He presently set out on a roving mission through 
Holland ; and he recounts various mishaps which 
befell him, " in consequence of my zeal in laboring 
for the saving of souls." " I was at the bloody 
fight of SenefF," he pursues, " where so many per- 

1 Hennepin, Nouvelle D^couverte (1697), 8. 
'' Ibid., Avant Propos, 5. 
3 Ibid., Voyage Curieux (1704), 12. 
11 



122 LA SALLE AT NIAGARA. [1678 

ished by fire and sword, and where I had abundance 
of work in comforting and consoling the poor 
wounded soldiers. After undergoing great fatigues, 
and running extreme danger in the sieges of towns, 
in the trenches, and in battles, where I exposed 
myself freely for the salvation of others, while the 
soldiers were breathing nothing but blood and car- 
nage, I found myself at last in a way of satisfying 
my old inclination for travel." ^ 

He got leave from his superiors to go to Canada, 
the most adventurous of all the missions ; and ac- 
cordingly sailed in 1675, in the ship which carried 
La Salle, who had just obtained the grant of Fort 
Frontenac. In the course of the voyage, he took 
it upon him to reprove a party of girls who were 
amusing themselves and a circle of officers and 
other passengers by dancing on deck. La Salle, 
who was among the spectators, was annoyed at 
Hennepin's interference, and told him that he was 
behaving like a pedagogue. The friar retorted, by 
alluding — unconsciously, as he says — to the 
circumstance that La Salle was once a pedagogue 
himself, having, according to Hennepin, been for 
ten or twelve years teacher of a class in a Jesuit 
school. La Salle, he adds, turned pale with rnge, 
and never forgave him to his dying day, but always 
maligned and persecuted him.- 

On arriving in Canada, he was sent up to Fort 

1 Ibid., 13. 

2 Ibid., Avis au Lecteur, He elsewbere represents himself as on-excel- 
leiit terms with La Salle ; with whom, he says, he used to read histories 
of travels at Fort Frontenac, after wiiich tiiey discussed together theii 
plans of discovery. 



1677-8.] HENNEi'IN. 123 

Frontenac, as a missionary. That wild and remote 
post was greatly to his liking. He planted a gigan- 
tic cross, superintended the building of a chapel, 
for himself and his colleague, Buisset, and instruct- 
ed the Iroquois colonists of the place. He visited, 
too, the neighboring Indian settlements, paddling 
his canoe in summer, when the lake was open, and 
journeying in winter on snow-shoes, with a blanket 
slung at his back. His most noteworthy journey 
was one which he made in the winter, — apparently 
of 1677, — with a soldier of the fort. They crossed 
the ea-'tern extremity of Lake Ontario on snow- 
shoes, and pushed soutliAvard through the forests, 
towards Onondaga; stopping at evening to dig away 
the snow, which was several feet deep, and collect 
wood for their fire, which they were forced to re- 
plenish repeatedly during the night, to keep them 
selves from freezing. At length they reached the 
great Onondaga town, where the Indians were 
much amazed at their hardihood. Thence they 
proceeded eastward, to the Oneidas, and after- 
wards to the Mohawks, who regaled them with 
small frogs, pounded up with a porridge of Indian 
corn. Here Hennepin found the Jesuit, Bruyas, 
who permitted him to copy a dictionary of the Mo- 
hawk language ^ which he had compiled, and here 
he presently met three Dutchmen, who urged him 
to visit the neiirhborinsc settlement of Oranoe, or 

1 This was the Racines Agnieres of Bniyas. It was publislieJ by Mr. 
Shea in 1862. Hennepin seeras to have studied it carefully ; for, on sev- 
eral occasions, he makes use of words evidently borrowed from it, putting 
them into the mouths of Indians speaking a diiilect diflferent from that of 
the Agniers, or Mohawks. 



124 LA SALLE AT NIAGARA. [1678. 

Albany, an invitation which he seems to have de- 
clined.^ 

They were pleased with him, he says, because 
ne spoke Dutch. Bidding them farewell, he tied 
on his snow-shoes again, and returned with his com- 
panion to Fort Frontenac. Thus he inured him- 
self to the hardships of the woods, and prepared for 
the execution of the grand plan of discovery which 
he calls his own ; " an enterprise," to borrow his 
own words, " capable of terrifying anybody but 
me." '"^ When the later editions of his book ap- 
peared, doubts had been expressed of his veracity. 
" I here protest to you, before God," he writes, 
addressing the reader, " that my narrative is faithful 
and sincere, and that you may believe every thing 
related in it." ^ And yet, as we shall see, this Rev- 
erend Father was the most impudent of liars ; and 
tlie narrative of which he speaks is a rare monu- 
ment of brazen mendacity. Hennepin, however, 
hud seen and dared much : for among his many 
failings fear had no part ; and where his vanity 
or his spite was not involved, he often told the 
truth. His books have their value, with all their 
enormous fabrications.^ 

La Motte and Hennepin, with sixteen men, went 

1 Compare Brocllieacl in Hist. Mag., x. 268. 

'^ " Une cntreprise capable (re'pouvanter tout autre que moi/' —Hen- 
nepin, Voyage Curieux, Avni}t Propos (1704). 

3 "Je vous proteste ici devant Dieu, que ma Relation est fidele et 
sincere," etc. — Ibid., Avis au Lecteur. 

•* Tlie nature of these fabrications will be shown hereafter. They 
occur, not in the early editions of Hennepin's narrative, which are com- 
paratively truthful, but in the edition of 1697 and those which followed. 
La Salle was dead at the time of their publication. 



1678.] VOYAGE ON LAKE ONTARIO 125 

on board the little vessel of ten tons, which lay at 
Fort Frontcnac. The friar's two brethren, Buisset 
and Ribourde, threw their arms about his neck as 
they bade him farewell ; while his Indian proselytes, 
learning whither he was bound, stood with their 
hands pressed upon their mouths, in amazement at 
the perils which awaited their ghostly instructor. 
La Salle, with the rest of the party, was to follow 
as soon as he could finish his preparations. It was 
a boisterous and gusty day, the eighteenth of No- 
vember. The sails were spread ; the shore receded, 
— the stone walls of the fort, the huge cross that 
the friar had reared, the wigwams, the settlers' 
cabins, the group of staring Indians on the strand. 
The lake was rough ; and the men, crowded in so 
small a craft, grew nervous and uneasy. They 
hugged the northern shore, to escape the fury of 
the wind which blew savagely from the north-east; 
while the long, gray sweep of naked forests on their 
right betokened that winter was fast closing in. 
On the twenty-sixth, they reached the neighborhood 
of the Indian town of Taiaiagon,' not far from To- 
ronto ; and ran their vessel, for safety, into the 
mouth of a river, — probably the Humber, — 
where the ice closed about her, and they were 
forced to cut her out with axes. On the fifth of 
December, they attempted to cross to the mouth of 
the Niagara ; but darkness overtook them, and they 
spent a comfortless night, tossing on the troubled 

^ This place is laid down on a manuscript map sent to France by the 
Intendant Duciiesneau, and now preserved in the Archives de ia Marine, 
and also on several other con tempo r.iry maps. 

11* 



126 LA SALLE AT NIAGARA. [1678. 

lake, five or six miles from shore. In the morning, 
they entered the mouth of the Niagara, and landed 
on the point at its eastern side, where now stand the 
historic ramparts of Fort Niagara. Here they found 
a small village of Senecas, attracted hither by the 
fisheries, who gazed with curious eyes at the vessel, 
and listened in wonder as the voyagers sang Te 
Demn, in gratitude for their safe arrival. 

Hennepin, with several others, now ascended the 
river, in a canoe, to the foot of the mountain ridge 
of Lewiston, which, stretching on the right hand 
and on the left, forms the acclivity of a vast plateau, 
rent with the mighty chasm, along which, from this 
point to the cataract, seven miles above, rush, with 
the fury of an Alpine torrent, the gathered waters 
of four inland oceans. To urge the canoe farther 
was impossible. He landed, with his companions, 
on the west bank, near the foot of that part of the 
ridge now called Queenstown Heights, climbed the 
steep ascent, and pushed through the wintry forest 
on a tour of exploration. On his left sank the 
cliffs, the furious river raging below ; till at length, 
in primeval solitudes, unprofaned as yet by the pet- 
tiness of man, the imperial cataract burst upon his 
sight. ^ 

1 Hennepin's account of the falls and river of Niagara — especially his 
second account, on his return from the West — is very minute, and on 
the whole very accurate. He indulges in gross exaggeration as to the 
height of the cataract, which, in the edition of 1683, he states at five liun- 
dred feet, and raises to si.x hundred in that of 1697. He also says that 
there was room for four carriages to pass abreast under the American Fall 
without being wet. This is, of course, an exaggeration at the best ; but it 
is extremely probable that a great change has taken place since his time. 
He speaks of a small lateral fall at the west side of the Horse Shoe Fall 



1G78.J INDIAN JEALOUSY. 127 

The explorers passed three miles beyond it, and 
encamped for the night on the banks of Chippewa 
Creek, scraping away the snow, which was a foot 
deep, in order to kindle a fire. In the morning 
they retraced their steps, startling a number of deer 
and wild turkeys on their way, and rejoined their 
companions at the mouth of the river. 

It was La Salle's purpose to build a palisade fort 
at the mouth of the Niagara; and the work was 
now begun, though it was necessary to use hot 
water to soften the frozen ground. But frost was 
not the only obstacle. The Senecas of the neigh- 
boring village betrayed a sullen jealousy at a design 
which, indeed, boded them no good. Niagara was 
the key to the four great lakes above, and whoever 
held possession of it could in no small measure 
control the fur-trade of the interior. Occupied by 
the French, it would, in time of peace, intercept the 
trade which the Iroquois carried on between the 
Western Indians, and the Dutch and English at 
Albany, and in time of war threaten them with 
serious danger. La Motte saw the necessity of 

whicli does not now exist. Table Rock, now destroyed, is distinctly 
figured ill liis picture. He says that he descended the clifTs on the west 
side to the foot of the cataract, but that no human being can get down on 
the east side. 

The name of Niagara, written Omjuiaahra by Lalemant in IG^Jl, and 
Onrjiiira by Sanson, on his map of 1657, is used by Hennepin in its jires- 
ent form. Ilis description of the falls is the earliest known to exist. 
They are clearly- indicated on the map of Cliamplain, lt5o'2. For early 
references to tiiem, see " Tiie Jesuits in Nortii America," 143. A brief 
but curious notice of them is given hy Gendron, Qiichjnes I\trliailanlez du 
Ptii/s des Iliiroiis, 165'J. The indefatigable Dr. O'Callaghan has discovered 
tliirty-nine distinct forms of tiie name Niagara. — Index to Colonial Docv 
inenis of Nciv York, 465. It is of Iroquois origin, and iu the Mohawk 
dialect is pronounced Nykgarah 



128 LA SALLE AT NLA.GARA. [1678 

conciliating these formidable neighbors, and, if pos- 
sible, cajoling them to give > their consent to the 
plan. La Salle, indeed, had instructed him to that 
effect. He resolved on a journey to the great vil- 
lage of the Senecas, and called on Hennepin, who 
was busied in building a bark chapel for himself, 
to accompany him. They accordingly set out with 
several men well armed and equipped, and bearing 
at their backs presents of very considerable value. 
The village was beyond the Genesee, south-east 
of the site of Rochester.^ After a march of five 
days, they reached it on the last day of December. 
They were conducted to the lodge of the great 
chief, where they were beset by a staring crowd 
of women and children. Two Jesuits, Raffeix and 
Julien Gamier, were in the village ; and their pres- 
ence boded no good for the embassy. La Motte, 
who seems to have had little love for priests of any 
kind, was greatly annoyed at seeing them ; and 
when the chiefs assembled to hear what he had to 
say, he insisted that the two fathers should leave 
the council-house. At this, Hennepin, out of 
respect for his cloth, thought it befitting that he 
should retire also. The chiefs, forty-two in num- 
ber squatted on the ground, arrayed in ceremo- 
nial robes of beaver, wolf, or black squirrel skin. 
" The senators of Venice," writes Hennepin, " do 
not look more grave or speak more deliberately 
than the counsellors of the L'oquois." La Motto's 



1 Near the town of Victor, It is laid down on the map of Galinee, and 
other unpublished maps. Compare Marshall, Historical Sketches of tlie 
Niagm-f Frontier, 14. 



1679.] A DISASTER. 129 

interpreter harangued the attentive conclave, placed 
gift after gift at their feet, — coats, scarlet cloth, 
hatchets, knives, and beads, — and used all his elo- 
quence to persuade them that the building of a fort 
at the mouth of the Niagara, and a vessel on Lake 
Eric, were measures vital to their interest. They 
gladly took the gifts, but answered the interpreter'is 
speech with evasive generalities ; and having been 
entertained with the burning of an Indian prisoner, 
the discomfited embassy returned, half-famished, to 
Niagara. 

A few days after, Hennepin was near the shore 
of the lake, when he heard a well-known voice, and 
to his surprise saw La Salle approaching. This 
resolute child of misfortune had already begun to 
taste the bitterness of his destiny. Sailing with 
Tonty from Fort Frontenac, to bring supplies to the 
advanced party at Niagara, he had been detained 
by contrary winds when within a few hours of 
his destination. Anxious to reach it speedily, 
he left the vessel in charge of the pilot, who dis- 
obeyed his orders, and ended by wrecking it at a 
spot nine or ten leagues west of Niagara.^ The 
provisions and merchandise Avere lost, though the 
crew saved the anchors and cables destined for 
the vessel which La Salle proposed to build for the 



' Tonty, Meihoire envoi/^ en 1693 siii' la D^converte da Mississippi et des 
Nations voisines, par le Siettr de la Salle, en 1678, et depuis sa murt jntr le 
Sienr de Tonty. Tlie published work bearing Tont3''s name is a compi- 
lation full of misstatements. He disowned its autborsln'p. Its authority 
will not be relied on in tliis narrative. A copy of tlie true document 
from the original, signed by Tonty, in the Archives de la Marine, is 
before me. 



130 LA SALLE AT NIAGAlv^. [1679. 

navigation of the Upper Lakes. He had had a 
meeting with the Senecas, before the disaster ; and, 
more fortunate than La Motte, — for his influence 
over Lidians was great, — had persuaded them to 
consent, for a time, to the execution of his plans. 
They required, how^ever, that he should so far 
modify them as to content himself with a stockaded 
warehouse, in place of a fort, at the mouth of the 
Niagara. 

The loss of the vessel threw him into extreme 
perplexity, and, as Hennepin says, " would have 
made anybody but him give up the enterprise."^ 
The whole party were now gathered within the 
half-finished palisades of Niagara ; a motley crew 
of French, Flemings, and Italians, all mutually 
jealous. Some of the men had been tampered with 
by La Salle's enemies. None of them seem to have 
had much heart for the enterprise. La Motte had 
gone back to Canada. He had been a soldier, and 
perhaps a good one ; but he had already broken 
down under the hardships of these winter journey- 
ings. La Salle, seldom happy in the choice of subor- 
dinates, had, perhaps, in all his company but one 
man in whom he could confidently trust ; and this 
was Tonty. He and Hennepin were on indifferent 
terms. Men thrown together in a rugged enter- 
prise like this quickly learn to know each other ; 
and the vain and assuming friar was not likely to 

1 Description deJn Louisiane (1683), 4L It is characteristic of Hennepin, 
that, in tiie editions of liis book pubhslied after La Salle's death, he sub- 
stitutes for "anybody but him," "anybody but those who had 'formed so 
generous a design," meaning to include himself, though he lost nothing 
by the disaster, and had not formed the design. 



1679.] TONTY AIJD HENNEPIN. 181 

commend himself to La Salle's brave and loyal 
lieutenant. Hennepin says that it was La Salle's 
policy to govern through the dissensions of his fol- 
lowers ; and, from whatever cause, it is certain 
that those beneath him were rarely in perfect 
harmony. 



CHAPTEK XI. 

1679. 

THE LAUNCH OF THE "GRIFFIN." 

The Niagara Portage. — A Vessel on the Stocks. — Suffering and 
Discontent. — La Salle's Winter Journey. — The Vessel 

LAUNCHED. — FkESH DISASTERS. 

A MORE important work than that of the ware- 
house at the mouth of the river was now to be be- 
gun. This was the building of a vessel above the 
cataract. The small craft which had brought La 
INIotte and Hennepin with their advanced party had 
been hauled to the foot of the rapids at Lewiston, 
and drawn ashore with a capstan to save her from 
the drifting ice. Her lading was taken out, and 
must now be carried beyond the cataract to the 
calm water above. The distance to the destined 
point was at least twelve miles, and the steep 
heights above Lewiston must first be climbed. This 
heavy task was accomplished on the twenty- second 
of January. The level of the plateau was reached, 
and the file of burdened men, some thirty in num- 
ber, toiled slowly on its way over the snowy plains 
and through the gloomy forests of spruce and naked 
oak trees ; while Hennepin plodded through the 



1679.] SHIP-BUILDING. VO'l 

drifts with his portable altar lashed fast to his back. 
They came at last to the mouth of a stream which 
entered the Niagara two leagues above the cataract, 
and which was undoubtedly that now called Cayuga 
Creek.^ 

1 It has been a matter of debate on which side of the Niagara the first 
vessel on the Upper Lakes was built. A close study of Hennepin, and a 
careful examination of the localities, have convinced me that the spot was 
that indicated above. Hennepin repeatedly alludes to a large detached 
rock rising out of the water at the foot of the rapids above Lewiston, on 
the west side of the river. This rock may still be seen, immediately 
under the western end of the Lewiston suspension-bridge. Persons living 
in the neighborliood remember that a ferry-boat used to pass between it 
and the cliffs of the western shore ; but it has since been undermineil 
by the current and has inclined in that direction, so that a consid- 
erable part of it is submerged, while the gravel and earth thrown down 
from the cliff during the building of the bridge lias filled the intervening 
channel. Opposite to this rock, and on the east side of the river, says 
Hennepin, are three mountains, about two leagues below the cataract. — 
Nouneau Voyage (1704), 462, 4G6. To these " three mountains," as well as 
to the rock, he frequently alludes. They are also spoken of by La Hon- 
tan, who clearly indicates their position. They consist in the three suc- 
cessive grades of the acclivity : first, that which rises from the level of 
the water, forming the steep and lofty river bank ; next, an intermediate 
ascent, crowned by a sort of terrace, where the tired men could find a 
second resting-place and lay down their burdens, whence a third effort 
carried them with difiiculty to the level top of the plateau. That this 
was the actual " portage " or carrying place of the travellers is shown by 
Hennepin (1704), 114, who describes the carrying of anchors and other 
lieavy articles up these heights in August, 1679. La Hontan also passed 
the falls by way of the " three mountains " eight years later. — La Hontan, 
(1703), 106. It is clear, then, that the portage was on the east side, 
whence it would be safe to conclude that the vessel was built on the 
same side. Hennepin says that she was built at the mouth of a stream 
(lifiere) entering the Kiagara two leagues above the falls. Except- 
ing one or two small brooks, there is no stream on the west side but 
Chippewa Creek, which Hennepin had visited and correctly placed at 
about a league from the cataract. His distances on the Niagara are 
usually correct. On the east side there is a stream which perfectly 
answers the conditions. This is Cayuga Creek, two leagues above the 
Falls. Immediately in front of it is an island about a mile long, separated 
from the shore by a narrow and deep arm of the Niagara, into which 
Cayuga Creek discharges itself The i)lace is so obviously suited to build- 
ing and launching a vessel, that, in the early part of this century, tlie 

12 



134 THE LAUNCH OF THE "GRIFFIN." [1679. 

Trees were felled, the place cleared, and the 
master-carpenter set his ship-builders at work. 
Meanwhile two Mohegan hunters, attached to the 
party, made bark wigwams to lodge the men. 
Hennepin had his chapel, apparently of the same 
material, where he placed his altar, and on Sun- 
days and saints' days said mass, preached, and ex- 
horted ; while some of the men, who knew the 
Gregorian chant, lent their aid at the service. 
When the carpenters were ready to lay the keel of 
the vessel. La Salle asked the friar to drive the first 
bolt ; " but the modesty of my religious profession," 
he says, " compelled me to decline this honor." 

Fortunately, it was the hunting-season of the 
Iroquois, and most of the Seneca warriors were in 
the forests south of Lake Erie ; yet enough re- 
mained to cause serious uneasiness. They loitered 
sullenly about the place, expressing their displeas- 
ure at the proceedings of the French. One of 
them, pretending to be drunk, attacked the black- 
smith and tried to kill him ; but the Frenchman, 
brandishing a red-hot bar of iron, held him at bay 
till Hennepin ran to the rescue, when, as he de- 
clares, the severity of his rebuke caused the savage 
to desist.' The work of the ship-builders advanced 

poverninent of the United States chose it for the construction of a schooner 
to carry supplies to the garrisons of the Upper Lakes. Tlie neighboring 
village now bears the name of La Salle. 

In examining this and other localities on the Niagara, I have been 
greatly aided by my friend, 0. H. Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo, who is un- 
rivalled in his knowledge of the history and traditions of the Niagara 
frontier. 

1 Hennepin (1704), 97. On a paper drawn u\) at the instance of the 
Intendant Duchesneau, the names of the greater number of La Salle's 



1679.1 HUNGER AND MUTINY. 135 

rapidly ; and when the Indian visitors beheld the 
vast ribs of the wooden monster, their jealousy was 
redoubled. A squaw told the French that they 
meant to burn the vessel on the stocks. All now 
stood anxiously on the watch. Cold, hunger, a]id 
discontent found imperfect antidotes in Tonty's 
energy and Hennepin's sermons. 

La Salle was absent, and his lieutenant com- 
manded in his place. Hennepin says that Tonty 
was jealous because he, the friar, kept a journal, 
and that he was forced to use all manner of just 
precautions to prevent the Italian from seizing it. 
The men, being half-starved in consequence of the 
loss of then- provisions on Lake Ontario, were rest- 
less and moody ; and then* discontent was fomented 
by one of their number, who had very probably 
been tampered with by La Salle's enemies.^ The 
Senecas refused to supply them with corn, and the 
frequent exhortations of the Recollet father proved 
an insufficient substitute. In this extremity, the 
two Mohegans did excellent service ; bringing deer 
and other game, which relieved the most pressing 
wants of the party and went far to restore their 
cheerfulness. 

La Salle, meanwhile, was making his way back 
on foot to Fort Frontenac, a distance of some two 



men are preserved. These agree with those given by Hennepin : thus 
the master-carpenter, whom ho calls Maitre Moyse, appears as INIoiso Hil- 
laret, and the blacksmith, whom he calls La Forge, is mentioned as — 
(illegible) dit la Forge. 

1 " This bad man," says Hennepin, " would infallibly have debauched 
our workmen, if I had not reassured them by the exhortations which I 
made them on Fete Days and Sundays, after divine service " (1701), 98. 



1'66 THE LAUNCH OF THE "GRIFFIN." [1679. 

hundred and fifty miles, through the snow-encum- 
bered forests of the Iroquois and over the ice of 
Lake Ontario. The wreck of his vessel made it 
necessary that fresh supplies should be sent to 
Niagara ; and the condition of his affairs, embar- 
rassed by the great expenses of the enterprise, de- 
manded his presence at Fort Frontenac. Two men 
attended him, and a dog dragged his baggage on a 
sledge. For food, they had only a bag of parched 
corn, which failed them two days before they 
readied the fort ; and they made the rest of the 
journey fasting. 

During his absence, Tonty finished the vessel, 
which was of about forty-five tons burden.^ As 
spring opened, she was ready for launching. The 
friar pronounced his blessing on her ; the assem- 
bled company sang Te Deum ; cannon were fired ; 
and French and Indians, warmed alike by a gen- 
erous gift of brandy, shouted and yelped in chorus 
as she glided into the Niagara. Her builders towed 
her out and anchored her in the stream, safe at last 
from incendiary hands, and then, swinging their 
hammocks under her deck, slept in peace, beyond 
reach of the tomahawk. The Indians gazed on 
her with amazement. Five small cannon looked 
out from her portholes ; and on her prow was 
carved a portentous monster, the Griffin, whose 
name she bore, in honor of the armorial bearings 
of Frontenac. La Salle had often been heard to 



1 Hennepin (1683), 46. In the edition of 1697, he says that it was of 
sixty tons. I prefer to follow the earlier and more trustworthy nar 
ratjve. 



167y.J RfiCOLLET FATHERS. V61 

say that he would make the griffin fly above the 
crows, or, in other words, make Frontenac triumph 
over the Jesuits. 

They now took her up the river, and made her 
fast below the swift current at Black Rock. Here 
they finished her equipment, and waited for La 
Salle's return ; but the absent commander did not 
appear. The spring and more than half of the 
summer had passed before they saw him again. 
At length, early in August, he arrived at the mouth 
of the Niagara, bringing three more friars ; for, 
though no friend of the Jesuits, he was zealous for 
the Faith, and was rarely without a missionary in 
his journeyings. Like Hennepin, the three friars 
were all Flemings. One of them, Melithon Watteau, 
was to remain at Niagara ; the others, Zenobe 
Membre and Gabriel Ribourde, were to preach the 
Faith among the tribes of the West. Ribourde 
was a hale and cheerful old man of sixty-four. He 
went four times up and down the Lewiston heights, 
while the men were climbing the steep pathway 
with their loads. It required four of them, well 
stimulated with brandy, to carry up the principal 
anchor destined for the " Griffin." 

La Salle brought a tale of disaster. His ene- 
mies, bent on ruining the enterprise, had given out 
that he was embarked on a harebrained venture, 
from which he would never return. His creditors, 
excited by rumors set afloat to that end, had seized 
on all his property in the settled parts of Canada, 
though his seigniory of Fort Frontenac alone 
would have more than sufficed to pay all his debts. 

12* 



138 THE LAUNCH OF THE "GRIFFIN." [1679. 

There was no remedy. To defer the enterprise 
would have been to give his adversaries the triumph 
that they sought ; and he hardened himself against 
the blow with his usual stoicism. 



CHAPTER XII. 

1679. 

LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. 

The Voyage of the " Gkiffin." — Deteoit. — A Storm. — St. Ignace of 
Micnii.LiJiACKiNAC. — Rivals and Esejiies. — Lake .Michioan. — 
ILvuDSHiPs — A Threatened Fight. — Fort Miami. — Toxty's Mis- 

FORTCNES. — FOUEBODINGS. 

The '•' Griffin " had lain moored by the shore, so 
near that Hennepin could preach on Sundays from 
the deck to the men encamped along the bank. 
She was now forced up against the current with 
tow-ropes and sails, till she reached the calm en- 
trance of Lake Erie. On the seventh of August, 
the voyagers, thirty-four in all, embarked, sang Te 
Deinn, and fired their cannon. A fresh breeze 
sprang up ; and with swelling canvas the " Griffin " 
ploughed the virgin waves of Lake Erie, where sail 
was never seen before. For three days they held 
their course over these unknown waters, and on the 
fourth turned northward into the strait of Detroit. 
Here, on the right hand and on the left, lay verdant 
prairies, dotted with groves and bordered with lofty 
forests. They saw walnut, chestnut, and wild plum 
trees, and oaks festooned with grape-vines ; herds 
of deer, and flocks of swans and wild turkeys. 



140 LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1079. 

The bulwarks of the " Griffin " were plentifully 
hung with game which the men killed on shore, and 
among the rest with a number of bears, much com- 
mended by Hennepin for their want of ferocity and 
the excellence of their flesh. " Those," he says, 
•' who will one day have the happiness to possess 
this fertile and pleasant strait, will be very much 
obliged to those who have shown them the way." 
They crossed Lake St. Clair,^ and still sailed north- 
ward against the current, till now, sparkling in the 
sun, Lake Huron spread before them like a sea. 

For a time, they bore on prosperously. Then 
the wind died to a calm, then freshened to a gale, 
then rose to a furious tempest ; and the vessel 
tossed wildly among the short, steep, perilous waves 
of the raging lake. Even La Salle called on his 
followers to commend themselves to Heaven. All 
fell to their prayers but the godless pilot, who was 
loud in complaint against his commander for hav 
ing brought him, after the honor he had won on 
the ocean, to drown at last ignominiously in fresh 
water. The rest clamored to the saints. St. An- 
thony of Padua was promised a chapel to be built 
in his honor, if he would but save them from theh 
jeopardy ; while in the same breath La Salle and 
the friars declared him patron of their great enter- 
prise.^ The saint heard their prayers. The obe- 
dient winds were tamed ; and the " Griffin " p hinged 
on her way through foaming surges that still grew 

1 Tliey named it Sainte Claire, of which the present name is a perver- 
sion. 

2 Hennepin (1683), 58. 



1679.] INTRIGUES. 1-il 

calmer as she advanced. Now the sun shone forth 
on woody islands, Bois Blanc and Mackmaw and 
the distant Manitoulins, — on the forest wastes of 
Michigan and the vast blue bosom of the angry 
lake ; and now her port was won, and she found her 
rest behind the point of St. Tgnace of Michillimack- 
inac, floating in that tranquil cove where crystal 
waters cover but cannot hide the pebbly depths be- 
neath. Before her rose the house and chapel of 
the Jesuits, enclosed with palisades ; on the right, 
the Huron \'illage, with its bark cabins and its 
fence of tall pickets ; on the left, the square com- 
pact houses of the French traders ; and, not far off, 
the clustered wigwams of an Ottawa village.' Here 
was a centre of the Jesuit missions, and a centre of 
the Indian trade ; and here, under the shadow of 
the cross, was much sharp practice m the service 
of Mammon. Keen traders, with or without a U- 
cense ; and lawless coureurs de hois, whom a few 
years of forest life had weaned from civilization, 
made St. Ignace their resort ; and here there were 
many of them when the " Griffin " came. They and 
their employers hated and feared La Salle, who, 
sustained as he was by the Governor, might set at 
nought the prohibition of the king, debarring him 
from traffic with these tribes. Yet, while plotting 
against him, they took pains to allay his distrust by 
a show of welcome. 

The '•' Griffin " fired her cannon, and the Indians 
yelped in wonder and amazement. The adventur- 

' There is a rude plan of the establishment in La Hontan, though, in 
several editions, its value is destroyed by the reversal of the plate. 



142 LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1679 

ers landed in state, and marched, under arms, te 
the bark chapel of the Ottawa village, where they 
heard mass. La Salle knelt before the altar, in a 
mantle of scarlet, bordered with gold. Soldiers 
sailors, and artisans knelt around him, — black 
Jesuits, gray llecollets, swarthy voyageurs, and 
painted savages ; a devout but motley concourse. 

As tney left the chapel, the Ottawa chiefs came 
to bid them welcome, and the Hurons saluted them 
with a volley of musketry. They saw the " Griffin" 
at her anchorage, surrounded by more than a hun- 
dred bark canoes, like a Triton among minnows. 
Yet it was with more wonder than good-will that 
the Indians of the mission gazed on the floating 
fort, for so they called the vessel. A deep jealousy 
of La Salle's designs had been infused into them. 
His own followers, too, had been tampered with. 
In the autumn before, it may be remembered, he 
had sent fifteen men up the lakes, to trade for him, 
with orders to go thence to the Illinois, and make 
preparation against his coming. Early in the sum- 
mer, Tonty had been despatched in a canoe, from 
Niagara, to look after them.^ It was high time. 
Most of the men had been seduced from their duty, 
and had disobeyed their orders, squandered the 
goods intrusted to them, or used them in trading 
on their own account. La Salle found four of 
them at Michillimackinac. These he arrested, and 
sent Tonty to the Falls of Ste. Marie, where two 
others were captured, with their plunder. The 

1 Tonty, M^moire, MS. He was overtaken at the Detroit by the 
" Griffin." 



1670. 1 A FATAL UESOLUTION. 143 

rest were in the woods, and it was useless to pursue 
them. 

Early in September, long before Tonty had re- 
turned from Ste. Marie, La Salle set sail again, and, 
passing westward into Lake Michigan,^ cast anchor 
near one of the islands at the entrance of Green 
Bay. Here, for once, he found a friend in the 
person of a Pottawattamie chief, who had been so 
wrought upon by the politic kindness of Frontenac, 
that he declared himself ready to die for the chil- 
di'en of Onontio.^ Here, too, he found several of 
his advanced party, who had remained faithful, and 
collected a large store of furs. It would have been 
better had they proved false, like the rest. La 
Salle, who asked counsel of no man, resolved, in 
spite of his followers, to send back the " Griffin," 
laden with these furs, and others collected on the, 
way, to satisfy his creditors.^ She fired a parting 
shot, and, on the eighteenth of September, spread 
her sails for Niagara, in charge of the pilot, who 
had orders to return with her to the Illinois as 
soon as he had discharged his cargo. La Salle, 
with the fourteen men who remained, in four 
canoes, deeply laden with a forge, tools, merchan- 

1 Then usually known as Lac des Illinois, because it gave access to 
the country of the tribes so called. Three years before, Allouez gave it 
the name of Lac St. Joseph, by which it is often designated by the early 
writers. Menibrc, Douay, and others, call it Lac Dauphin. 

2 " The Groat Mountain," the Iroquois name for the Governor of Can- 
ada. It was borrowed by other tribes also. 

' In the license of discovery, granted to La Salle, he is expressly pro- 
hibited from trading with tiie Ottawas and others who brought furs to 
Montreal. This traffic on the lakes was, therefore, ilUcit. His enemy, 
the Intendant Duchesnetiu, afterwards used this against him. — Lettrede 
Duchesneau aii Ministre, 10 Nov. 1G80, MS 



144 LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1679. 

dise, and arms, put out from the island and resumed 
his voyage. 

The parting was not auspicious. The lake, 
glassy and calm in the afternoon, was convulsed at 
night with a sudden storm, when the canoes were 
midway between the island and the main shore. 
It was with much ado that they could keep to- 
gether, the men shouting to each other through 
the darkness. Hennepin, who was in the smallest 
canoe, with a heavy load, and a carpenter for a 
companion, who was awkward at the paddle, found 
himself in jeopardy which demanded all his nerve. 
The voyagers thought themselves happy when they 
gained at last the shelter of a little sandy cove, 
where they dragged up their canoes, and made 
their cheerless bivouac in the drenched and drip- 
ping forest. Here they spent five days, living on 
pumpkins and Indian corn, the gift of their Pot- 
tawattamie friends, and on a Canada porcupine, 
brought in by La Salle's Mohegan hunter. The 
gale raged meanwhile with a relentless fury. They 
trembled when they thought of the " Griffin." When 
at length the tempest lulled, they re-embarked, and 
steered southward, along the shore of Wisconsin ; 
but again the storm fell upon them, and drove 
them, for safety, to a bare, rocky islet. Here they 
made a fire of driftwood, crouched around it, drew 
their blankets over theh heads, and in this misera- 
ble plight, pelted with sleet and rain, remained for 
two days. 

At length they were afloat again ; but their pros- 
perity was brief. On the twenty-eighth, a fierce 



1679.J FOTTAWATTAMIES. 145 

squall di-ove them to a point of rocks, covered with 
bushes, where thej consumed the little that re 
mained of their provisions. On the first of October, 
they paddled about thirty miles, without food, when 
they came to a village of Pottawattamies, who ran 
down to the shore to help them to land ; but La 
Salle, fearing that some of his men would steal the 
merchandise and desert to the Indians, insisted on 
going three leagues farther, to the great indignation 
of his followers. The lake, swept by an easterly 
gale, was rolling its waves against the beach, like 
the ocean in a storm. In the attempt to land, La 
Salle's canoe was nearly swamped. He and his 
three canoe-men leaped into the water, and, in spite 
of the surf, which nearly drowned them, dragged 
their vessel ashore, with all its load. He then went 
to the rescue of Hennepin, who, with his awkward 
companion, was in woful need of succor. Father 
Gabriel, with his sixty-four years, was no match 
for the surf and the violent undertow. Hennepin, 
finding himself safe, waded to his relief, and carried 
him ashore on his sturdy shoulders; while the old 
friar, though drenched to the skin, laughed gayly 
under his cowl, as his brother missionary staggered 
with him up the beach. ^ 

When all were safe ashore, La Salle, who dis- 
trusted the Indians they had passed, took post on 
a hill, and ordered his followers to prepare their 
guns for action. Nevertheless, as they were starv- 
ing, an effort must be risked to gain a supply of 

» Hennepin (1683), 79. 
13 



14b LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1679. 

food; and he sent three men back to the village 
to purchase it. Well armed, but faint with toil 
and famine, they made their way through the 
stormy forest, bearing a pipe of peace ; but on 
arriving saw that the scared inhabitants had fled. 
They found, however, a stock of corn, of which 
they took a portion, . leaving goods in exchange, 
and then set out on their return. 

Meanwhile, about twenty of the warriors, armed 
with bows and arrows, approached the camp of the 
French, to reconnoitre. La Salle Avent to meet 
them, with some of his men, opened a parley with 
them, and kept them seated at the foot of the hill 
till his three messengers returned, when, on seeing 
the peace-pipe, the warriors set up a cry of joy. 
In the morning, they brought more corn to the 
camp, with a supply of fresh venison, not a little 
cheering to the exhausted Frenchmen, who, in 
dread of treachery, had stood under arms all night. 

This was no journey of pleasure. The lake was 
ruffled with almost ceaseless storms ; clouds big 
with rain above ; fj turmoil of gray and gloomy 
waves beneath. Every night the canoes must be 
shouldered through the breakers and dragged up 
the steep banks, which, as they neared the site of 
Milwaukee, became almost insurmountable. The 
men paddled all day, with no other food than a 
handful of Indian corn. They were spent with 
toil, sick with the haws and wild berries which 
they ravenously devoured, and dejected at the pros- 
pect before them. Father Gabriel's good spirits 
began to fail. He fainted several times, from fam- 



1679.] BETTER PROSPECTS. 147 

ine and fatigue, but was revived by a certain " con- 
fection of Hyacinth," administered by Hennepin, 
who had a small box of this precious specific. 

At length they descried, at a distance, on the 
stormy shore, two or three eagles among a busy 
congregation of crows or turkey-buzzards. They 
paddled in all haste to the spot. The feasters took 
flight; and the starved travellers found the mangled 
body of a deer, lately killed by the wolves. This 
good luck proved the inauguration of plenty. As 
they approached the head of the lake, game grew 
abundant; and, with the aid of the Mohegan, there 
was no lack of bear's meat and venison. They 
found wild grapes, too, in the woods, and gathered 
them by cutting down the trees to which the vines 
clung. 

While thus employed, they were startled by a 
sight often so fearful in the waste and the wilder- 
ness, the print of a human foot. It was clear that 
Indians were not far off. A strict watch was kept, 
not, as it proved, without cause ; for that night, 
while the sentry thought of little but screening 
himself and his gun from the floods of rain, a party 
of Outagamies crept under the bank, where they 
lurked for some time before he discovered them. 
Being challenged, they came forward, professing 
great friendship, and pretending to have mistaken 
the French for Iroquois. In the morning, how- 
ever, there was an outcry from La Salle's servant, 
who declared that the visitors had stolen his coat 
from under the inverted canoe where he had placed 
it ; while some of the carpenters also complained of 



148 LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1679. 

being robbed. La Salle well knew that if the theft 
were left unpunished, worse would come of it. 
First, he posted his men at the woody point of a 
peninsula, whose sandy neck was interposed be- 
tween them and the main forest. Then he went 
forth, pistol in hand, met a young Outagami, 
seized him, and led him prisoner to his camp. 
This done, he again set out, and soon found an 
Outagami chief, — for the wigwams were not far 
distant, — to whom he told what he had done, add- 
ing that unless the stolen goods were restored, the 
prisoner should be killed. The Indians were in 
perplexity, for they had cut the coat to pieces and 
divided it. In this dilemma, they resolved, being 
strong in numbers, to rescue their comrade by. 
force. Accordingly, they came down to the edge 
of the forest, or posted themselves behind fallen 
trees on the banks, while La Salle's men in their 
stronghold braced their nerves for the fight. Here 
three Flemish friars, with their rosaries, and eleven 
Frenchmen, with their guns, confronted a hundred 
and twenty screeching Outagamies. Hennepin, 
who had seen service, and who had always an 
exhortation at his tongue's end, busied himself to 
inspire the rest with a courage equal to his own. 
Neither party, however, had an appetite for the 
fray. A parley ensued : full compensation was 
made for the stolen goods, and the aggrieved 
Frenchmen were farther propitiated with a gift of 
beaver-skins. 

Their late enemies, now become friends, spent 
the next day in dances, feasts, and speeches. They 



1679.] THE ST. JOSEPH. 14^ 

entreated La Salle not to advance further, since the 
Illinois, through whose country he must pass, would 
be sure to kill him ; for, added these friendly coun- 
sellors, they hated the French because they had 
been instigating the Iroquois to invade their country. 
Hero was a new subject of anxiety. La Salle 
lliought that he saw in it another device of his busy 
and unscrupulous enemies, intriguing among the 
Illinois for his destruction. 

He pushed on, however, circling around the 
southern shore of Lake Michigan, till he reached 
the mouth of the St. Joseph, called by him the 
Miamis. Here Tonty was to have rejoined him, 
with twenty men, making his way from Michilli- 
mackinac, along the eastern shore of the lake : 
but the rendezvous was a solitude ; Tonty was no- 
where to be seen. It was the first of November. 
Winter was at hand, and the streams would soon 
be frozen. The men clamored to go forward, urg- 
ing that they should starve if they could not reach 
the villages of the Illinois before the tribe scattered 
for the winter hunt. La Salle was inexorable. If 
they should all desert, he said, he, with his Mohe- 
gan hunter and the three friars, would still remain 
and wait for Tonty. The men grumbled, but 
obeyed; and, to divert their thoughts, he set them 
at building a fort of timber, on a rising ground at 
the mouth of the river. 

They had spent twenty days at this task, and 
their work was well advanced, when at length 
Tonty appeared. He brought with him only half 
of his men. Provisions had failed ; and the rest of 

13* 



150 LA SALLE ON THE UPPEi; LAKES. [1679. 

ais party had been left thirty leagues behind, to 
sustain themselves by hunting. La Salle told him 
to return and hasten them forward. He set out 
with two men. A violent north wind arose. He 
tried to run his canoe ashore through the break- 
ers. The two men could not manage their ves 
sel, and he with his one hand could not help them. 
She swamped, rolling over in the surf. Guns, 
baggage, and provisions were lost ; and the three 
voyagers returned to the Miamis, subsisting on 
acorns by the way. Happily, the men left behind, 
excepting two deserters, succeeded, a few days 
after, in rejoining the party.' 

Thus was one heavy load lifted from the heart 
of La Salle. But where was the " Griffin" ? Time 
enough, and more than enough, had passed for her 
voyage to Niagara and back again. He scanned 
the dreary horizon with an anxious eye. 'No re- 
turning sail gladdened the watery solitude, and a 
dark foreboding gathered on his heart. Yet far- 
ther delay was impossible. He sent back two men 
to Michillimackinac to meet her, if she still existed, 
and pilot her to his new fort of the Miamis, and 
then prepared to ascend the river, whose weedy 
edges were akeady glassed with thin flakes of 
ice. 

1 Hennepin (1683), 112; Tonty, M€moire, MS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

1679-1680. 
LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. 

Toe St. Joseph. — Adventure of La Salle. — The Pkaikies. — Faii< 
ixE. — The Gkeat Town of the Illinois. — Indians. — Intkigues. — 
Difficulties. — Policy op La Salle. — Deseution. — Anothek At- 

TEMPT to poison UIJI. 

On the third of December, the party re-em- 
barked, thirty-three in all, in eight canoes,^ and as- 
cended the chill current of the St. Joseph, bordered 
with dreary meadows and bare gray forests. When 
they approached the site of the present village of 
South Bend, they looked anxiously along the shore 
on their right to find the portage or path leading to 
the headquarters of the Illinois. The Mohegan 
was absent, hunting ; and, unaided by his practised 
eye, they passed the path without seeing it. La 
Salle landed to search the woods. Hours passed, 
and he did not return. Hennepin and Tonty grew 
uneasy, disembarked, bivouacked, ordered guns to 
be fired, and sent out men to scour the country. 
Night came, but not their lost leader. Muffled in 
their blankets and powdered by the thick-falling 
snowflakes, they sat ruefully speculating as to what 
had befallen him ; nor was it till four o'clock of 

A Lettre de Duchesneau a , 10 Nov. 1G80, MS. 



152 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1679-80. 

the next afternoon that they saw him approaching 
along the margin of the river. His face and hands 
were besmirched with charcoal ; and he was farther 
decorated with two opossums which hung from his 
belt and which he had killed with a stick as they 
were swinmng: head downwards from the bough of 
a tree, after the fashion of that singular beast. He 
had missed his way in the forest, and had been 
forced to make a wide circuit around the edge of a 
swamp ; while the snow, of which the air was full, 
added to his perplexities. Thus he pushed on 
through the rest of the day and the greater 
part of the night, till, about two o'clock in the 
morning, he reached the river again and fired his 
gun as a signal to his party. Hearing no an- 
swering shot, he pursued his way along the bank, 
when he presently saw the gleam of a fire among 
the dense thickets close at hand. Not doubting 
tbat he had found the bivouac of his party, he 
hastened to the spot. To his surprise, no human 
being was to be seen. Under a tree beside the fire 
was a heap of dry grass impressed with the form of 
a man who must have fled but a moment before, 
for his couch was still warm. It was no doubt an 
Indian, ambushed on the bank, watching to kill 
some passing enemy. La Salle called out in se- 
veral Indian languages ; but there Avas dead silence 
all around. He then, with admirable coolness, 
took possession of the quarters he had found, shout- 
ing to their invisible proprietor that he was about 
to sleep in his bed ; piled a barricade of bushes 
around the spot, rekindled the dying fire, warmed 



1C79.J THE KANKAKES. 153 

his benumbed hands, stretched himself on the dried 
grass, and slept undisturbed till morning. 

The Mohegan had rejoined the party before La 
Salle's return, and with his aid the portage was soon 
found. Here the party encamped. La Salle, who 
was excessively fatigued, occupied, together with 
Hennepin, a wigwam covered in the Indian man- 
ner with mats of reeds. The cold forced them to 
kindle a fire, which before daybreak set the mats 
in a blaze ; and the two sleepers narrowly escaped 
being burned along with their hut. 

In the morning, the party shouldered their canoes 
and baggage, and began their march for the sources 
of the River Illinois, some five miles distant. 
Around them stretched a desolate plain, half-cov- 
ered with snow, and strewn with the skulls and 
bones of buffalo ; while, on its farthest verge, they 
could see the lodges of the Miami Indians, who had 
made this place their abode. They soon reached a 
spot where the oozy saturated soil quaked beneath 
their tread. • All around were clumps of alder- 
bushes, tufts of rank grass, and pools of glistening 
water. In the midst, a dark and lazy current, 
which a tall man might bestride, crept twisting like 
a snake among the weeds and rushes. Here were 
the sources of the Kankakee, one of the heads of 
the Illinois.^ They set their canoes on this thread 

1 The Kankakee was called at this time the Thcakiki, or Ilankiki 
(Marcst) ; a name, wliich, as Charlevoix sa^s, was afterwards corrupted 
by tlie Frenth to Kiakiki, whence, prohably, its present form. In La 
Salle's time, the name Thcakiki was given to tlie Kiver Illinois, throngli 
all its course. It was also called tlie l\ivicre Seignelay,The ITiviere des 
Macopins, and the Riviere Divhie, or Riviere de la Divine. The latter 



15-4 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1679 

of water, embarked their baggage and themselves, 
and pushed down the skiggish streamlet, lookmg, 
at a little distance, like men who sailed on land. 
Fed by an unceasing tribute of the spongy soil, it 
quickly widened to a river ; and they floated on their 
way through a voiceless, lifeless solitude of dreary 
oak barrens, or boundless marshes overgrown with 
reeds. At night, they built their fire on ground 
made fh'm by frost, and bivouacked among the 
rushes. A few days brought them to a more fa- 
vored region. On the right hand and on the left 
stretched the boundless prairie, dotted with leafless 
groves andborderedby gray wintry forests ; scorched 
by the fires kindled in the dried grass by Indian 
hunters, and strewn with the carcasses and the 
bleached skulls of innumerable buff"alo. The plains 
were scored with their pathways, and the muddy 
edges of the river were full of their hoof-prints. 
Yet not one was to be seen. At night, the horizon 
glowed with distant fires ; and by day the savage 
hunters could be descried at times roaming on the 
verge of the prairie. The men, discontented and half- 
name, wlion Cliarlevoix visited tlie country in 1721, was confined to the 
northern brancli. He gives an interesting and somewliat grapliic account 
of tiic ])ortage and tlie sources of the Kankaiiee, in his letter dated De la 
Source dii Tlieakiki, ce ili.r-srpt Scptemhre, 1721. 

Wiiy the Illinois sliould ever have been called the Divine, it ir. not 
easy to see. The jMcmoirs of St. Simon suggest an explanation. Mad- 
ame de Frontenac and her friend. Mademoiselle d'Outrelai.se, lie tells us, 
lived together in apartments at the Arsenal, where the}- held their mlon 
and exercised .a great power in society. They were called at court les 
Diviiins. — St. Simon, v. 335 (Cherucl). In compliment to Frontenac, 
the river m.ay have been named after his wife or her friend.' The sug 
gestion is due to M. Margry. I have seen a map by Eaudin, Frontcnac's 
engineer, on which the river is called " Riviere de la Divine ou I'Outre- 
laise.' 



1679.] BUFFALO BULL. 155 

starved, would have deserted to them had they 
dared. La Salle's Mohegan could kill no game ex 
cejDt two lean deer, with a few wild geese and 
swans. At length, in their straits, they made a 
happy discovery. It was a buifalo bull, fast mired 
in a slough. They killed him, lashed a cable 
about him, and then twelve men dragged out the 
shaggy monster whose ponderous carcass demanded 
their utmost efforts.^ 

The scene changed again as they descended. On 
either hand ran ranges of woody hills, following 
the coiu'se of the river ; and when they mounted to 
their tops, they saw beyond them a rolling sea of 
dull green prairie, a boundless pasture of the buf- 
falo and the deer, in our own day strangely trans- 
formed, — yellow in harvest time with ripened 
wheat, and dotted with the roofs of a hardy and 
valiant yeomanry .- 

They passed the site of the future town of Ot- 
tawa, and saw on their right the high plateau of 
Buffalo Rock, long a favorite dwelling-place of In- 

1 I remember to have seen an incident precisely similar, man}' years 
ago, on the Upper Arkansas. In this case, liowever, it was impossible 
to drag tlie bull from the mire. Though hopelessly entangled, he made 
furious plunges at his assailants before being shot. 

Hennepin's account of the buffalo, which lie afterwards had every op- 
portunity of seeing, is interesting and true. 

2 The change is very recent. Within the memory of men still young, 
wolves and deer, l)esides wild swans, wild turkeys, cranes, and pelicans, 
abounded in this region. In 18i0, a friend of mine shot a deer from the 
window of a farm-house near the present town of La Salle. Kunning 
wolves on horseback was his favorite amusement in this part of the 
country, ''^rhe buffalo long ago disappeared, but the early settlers found 
frequent remains of them. iSIr. James Clark, of Utica, 111., told me that 
he once found a large quantity of their bones and skulls in one place, as 
if a herd had perished in the snow-drifts. 



lob LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1679. 

dians. A league below, the river glided among 
islands bordered with stately woods. Close on 
their left towered a lofty cliff/ crested with trees 
that overhung the rippling current ; while before 
them spread the valley of the Illinois, in broad low 
meadows, bordered on the right by the graceful 
hills at whose foot now lies the village of Utica. A 
population far more numerous then tenanted the 
valley. Along the right bank of the river were 
clustered the lodges of a great Indian town. Hen- 
nepin counted four hundred and sixty of them 



? 



1 " Starved Rock." It will hold, hereafter, a conspicuous place in the 
narrative. 

2 La Louisiane, 137. Allouez (Relation, 1673-9) found three hundred 
and fifty-one lodges. Tliis was in 1G77. The population of this town, 
which enihraced five or six distinct tribes of the Illinois, was continually 
changing. In 1675, Marquette addressed here an auditory composed of 
five hundred chiefs and old men, and fifteen hundred j'oung men, besides 
women and children. He estimates the number of fires at five orsi.K hun- 
dred. — Voi/af]es da Pere Mun/iielle, 98 (Lenox). Membre, who was herein 
1680, says that it then contained seven or eight tiiousand souls. — Membre, 
in Le Clcrcq, Premier Elablisseiiwnt de la Foij, ii. 173. On the remarkable 
manuscript map of Franquelin, 1684, it is set down at twelve hundred 
warriors, or about six thousand souls. Tins was after the destructive 
inroad of tlie Iroquois. Some years later, Rasle reported upwards of 
twenty-four hundred fiiniilios. — LMre a son Frere m Lettres Edifiantes. 

At times, nearly the whole Illinois population was gathered here. At 
ather times, the several tribes that composed it separated, some dwelling 
apart from the rest ; so that at one ])eriod the Illinois formed eleven vil- 
lages, while at others they wore gathered into two, of which this was much 
the largest. The meadows around it were extensively cultivated, yield- 
ing large crops, chiefly of Indian corn. The lodges were built along the 
river bank, for a distance of a mile and sometimes tar more. In their 
shape, tiiough not in their material, the}' resembled those of the llurons. 
There were no palisades or embankments. 

This neigiiborhood abounds in Indian relics. The village graveyard 
appears to have been on a rising ground, near the river, immediately in 
front of the town of Utica. This is the only part of the river bottom, 
from this point to the IMississippi, not liable to inundation in the spring 
floods. It now forms part of a farm occupied by a tenant of Mr. James 



1G79.] HUNGER RELIEVED. 1-31 

In shape, they were somewhat Hke the arched top of 
a baggage wagon. They were built of a framework 
of poles, covered with mats of rushes, closely inter- 
woven ; and each contained three or four fires, of 
which the greater part served for two families. 

Here, then, was the town ; but where were the 
inhabitants'? All was silent as the desert. The 
lodges were empty, the fires dead, and the ashes 
cold. La Salle had expected this ; for he knew 
that in the autumn the Illinois always left their 
towns for their winter hunting, and that the time 
of their return had not yet come. Yet he was not 
the less embarrassed, for he would fain have bought 
a supply of food to relieve his famished followers. 
Some of them, searching the deserted town, pres- 
ently found the caches, or covered pits, in which 
the Indians hid their stock of corn. This was 
precious beyond measure in their eyes, and to 
touch it would be a deep ofi"ence. La Salle shrank 
from provoking their anger, which might prove the 
ruin of his plans ; but his necessity overcame his 
prudence, and he took twenty mmots of corn, 
hoping to appease the owners by presents. Thus 
provided, the party embarked again, and resumed 
their downward voyage. 

On New- Year's day, 1680, they landed and heard 
mass. Then Hennepin wished a happy new year 
to La Salle first, and afterwards to all the men. 



Clark. Both Mr. Clark and his tenant informed me that every year 
great quantities of human bones and teeth were turned up here by the 
plough. Many implements of stone are also found, together with beads 
and other ornaments of Indian and European fabric. 

14 



158 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1680. 

making them a speech, which, as he tells us, was 
'* most touching." ^ He and his two brethren next 
embraced the whole company in turn, " in a man- 
ner," writes the father, " most tender and affection- 
ate," exhorting them, at the same time, to patience, 
faith, and constancy. Two days after these so- 
lemnities, they reached the long expansion of the 
river, then called Pimitoui, and now known as 
Peoria Lake, and leisurely made their way down- 
ward to the site of the city of Peoria.^ Here, as 
evening drew near, they saw a faint spire of smoke 
curling above the gray, wintry forest, betokening 
that Indians were at hand. La Salle, as Ave have 
seen, had been warned that these tribes had been 
taught to regard him as their enemy ; and when, in 
the morning, he resumed his course, he was pre 
pared alike for peace or war. 

The shores now approached each other ; and the 
Illinois was once more a river, bordered on either 
hand with overhanging woods.^ 

At nine o'clock, doubling a point, he saw about 
eighty Illinois wigwams, on both sides of the river. 
He instantly ordered the eight canoes to be ranged 
in line, abreast, across the stream; Tonty on the 
right, and he himself on the left. The men laid 

1 "Les paroles les plus toucliantcs." Hennepin (1G83), 139. The 
later editions add the modest qualification, " quo je pus." 

'^ Peoria was the name of one of the tribes of the Illinois. Ilfinnepin 
says that they crossed the lake four days after leaving the village, which 
last, as appears by a comparison of his narrative with that of Tonty, must 
have been on the thirtietli of December. 

^ At least it is so now at this place. Perhaps in La Salle's time it was 
not wholly so, for there is evidence in various parts of the West that the 
forest has made considerable encroachments on the open country. 



1680.] ILLINOIS HOSPITALITY. 159 

down their paddles and seized their weapons; 
while, in this warlike guise, the current bore them 
swiftly into the midst of the surprised and astound- 
ed savages. The camps were in a panic. War- 
riors whooped and howled ; squaws and children 
screeched in chorus. Some snatched their bows 
and war-clubs ; some ran in terror ; and, in the 
midst of the hubbub, La Salle leaped ashore, fol- 
lowed by his men. None knew better how to deal 
with Indians ; and he made no sign of friendship, 
knowing that it might be construed as a token of 
fear. His little knot of Frenchmen stood, gun in 
hand, passive, yet prepared for battle. The In 
dians, on their part, rallying a little from their 
fright, made all haste to proffer peace. Two of 
their chiefs came forward, holding forth the calu- 
met; while another began a loud harangue, to check 
the young warriors who were aiming their arrow? 
from the farther bank. La Salle, responding to 
these friendly overtures, displayed another calumet ; 
while Hennepin caught several scared children and 
soothed them with winning blandishments.^ The 
uproar was quelled, and the strangers were pres- 
ently seated in the midst of the camp, beset by a 
throng of wild and swarthy figures. 

Food was placed before them ; and, as the Illinois 
code of courtesy enjoined, their entertainers con- 
veyed the morsels with their o-wn hands to the lips 
of these unenviable victims of their hospitality, 
while others rubbed their feet with bear's grease. 
La Salle, on his part, made them a gift of tobacco 

1 Hennepin (1083), 142. 



160 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1680 

and hatchets ; and, when he had escaped from 
then' caresses, rose and harangued them. He told 
them that he had been forced to take corn from 
theu' granaries, lest his men should die of hunger; 
but he prayed them not to be offended, promising 
full restitution or ample payment. He had come, 
he said, to protect them against their enemies, and 
teach them to pray to the true God. As for the 
Iroquois, they were subjects of the Great King, 
and, therefore, brethren of the French ; yet, never- 
theless, should they begin a war and invade their 
country, he would stand by the Illinois, give them 
guns, and fight in their defence, if they would 
permit him to build a fort among them for the 
security of his men. It was, also, he added, his 
purpose to build a great wooden canoe, in which 
to descend the Mississippi to the sea, and then 
return, bringing them the goods ef which they 
stood in need ; but if they would not consent to his 
plans, and sell provisions to his men, he would pass 
on to the Osages, who would then reap all the ben- 
efits of intercourse with the French, while they 
were left destitute, at the mercy of the Iroquois.^ 

This threat had its effect, for it touched their 
deep-rooted jealousy of the Osages. They Avere 
lavish of promises, and feasts and dances consumed 
the day. Yet La Salle soon learned that the in- 
trigues of his enemies were still pursuing him. 
That evening, unknown to him, a stranger appeared 
in the Illinois camp. He was a Mascoutin chief, 

1 Hennepin (1683), 144-149. The later editions omit a part of the 
above. 



1G80.J FRESH INTRIGUES. 161 

named Moiiso, attended by five or six Miamis, and 
bringing a gift of knives, hatchets, and kettles to 
the IlUiiois. The chiefs assembled in a secret noc- 
turnal session, where, smoking their pipes, tliey 
listened with open ears to the harangue of the 
envoys. Monso told them that he had come in 
behalf of certain Frenchmen, whom he named, to 
warn his hearers against the designs of La Salle, 
whom he denounced as a partisan and spy of the 
Iroquois, affirming that he was now on his way to 
stir up the tribes beyond the Mississippi to join in 
a war against the Illinois, who, thus assailed from 
the east and from the west, would be utterly de- 
stroyed. There was no hope for them, he added, 
but in checking the farther progress of La Salle, 
or, at least, retarding it, thus causing his men to 
desert him. Having thrown his firebrand, Monso 
and his party left the camp in haste, dreading 
to be confronted with the object of their asper 
sions.^ 

In the morning. La Salle saw a change in the 
behavior of his hosts. They looked on him askance, 
cold, sullen, and suspicious. There was one Oma 

1 Hennepin (1G83), 151, (1704), 205. Le Clercq, ii. 157. Memoire dit 
Voyage cle M. de la Sulk, MS. This is a paper appended to Frontenau's 
Letter to tlie Minister, 9 Nov. 1680. Hennepin prints a translation of it 
in the English edition of his later work. It charges the Jesuit Allouez 
witli being at the bottom of the intrigue. La Salle had a special distrust 
of this missionary, who, on his part, always sliunned a meeting with him. 

In another memoir, addressed to Frontenac in 1680, La Salle states 
fully his conviction that Allouez, who was then, he says, among the 
Miamis, had induced them to send Monso on his sinister errand. See the 
memoir in Thomassy, Geohjie Prutl(/ue de la Loitis/ane, 203. 

The account of the affair of Monso in the spurious work bearing 
Tonty's name is mere romance. 

14* 



162 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1080. 

wha, a chief, whose favor he had won the day be- 
fore by the politic gift of two hatchets and three 
knives, and who now came to him in secret to tell 
him what had taken place at the nocturnal council. 
La Salle at once saw in it a device of his enemies; 
and this belief was confirmed, when, in the after- 
noon, Nicanope, brother of the head chief, sent to 
invite the Frenchmen to a feast. They repaired to 
his lodge; but before dinner was served, — that is 
to say, while the guests, white and red, were seated 
on mats, each with his hunting-knife in his hand, 
and the wooden bowl before him, which was to 
receive his share of the bear's or buffalo's meat, or 
the corn boiled in fat, with which he was to be 
regaled ; while such was the posture of the com 
pany, their host arose and began a long speech. 
He told the Frenchmen that he had invited them 
to his lodge less to refresh their bodies with good 
cheer than to cure their minds of the dangerous 
purpose which possessed them, of descending the 
Mississippi. Its shores, he said, were beset by 
savage tribes, against whose numbers and ferocity 
tlieir valor would avail nothing : its waters were 
infested by serpents, alligators, and unnatural mon- 
sters ; while the river itself, after raging among 
rocks and whirlpools, plunged headlong at last into 
a fathomless gulf, which would swallow them and 
their vessel for ever. 

La Salle's men were, for the most part, raw 
hands, knowing nothing of the wilderness, and 
easily alarmed at its dangers ; but there were two 
among them, old coiireurs de hois, who, unfortu- 



liibO.i LA SALLE AND THE INDIANS. 163 

iiately, knew too much ; for they understood the 
Indian orator, and explained his speech to the rest. 
As La Salle looked around on the circle of his fol- 
lowers, he read an augury of fresh trouble in their 
disturbed and rueful visages. He waited patiently, 
however, till the speaker had ended, and then 
answered him, through his interpreter, with great 
composure. First, he thanked him for the friendly 
warning which his affection had impelled him to 
utter; but, he continued, the greater the danger, 
the greater the honor ; and even if the danger were 
real, Frenchmen would never flinch from it. But 
were not the Illinois jealous ? Had they not been 
deluded by lies'? " We were not asleep, my broth- 
er, when Monso came to tell you, under cover of 
night, that we were spies of the Iroquois. The 
presents he gave you, that you might believe his 
falsehoods, are at this moment buried in the earth 
under this lodge. If he told the truth, why did he 
skulk away in the dark "? Why did he not show 
himself by day? Ho you not see that when we 
first came among you, and your camp was all in 
confusion, we could have killed you without need- 
ing help from the Iroquois 1 And now, while I 
am speaking, could we not put your old men to 
death, while your young warriors are all gone away 
tc hunt? If we meant to make war on you, we 
should need no help from the Iroquois, who have 
so often felt the force of our arms. Look at what 
we have brought you. It is not weapons to destroy 
you, but merchandise and tools, for your good. If 
you still harbor evil thoughts of us, be frank as we 



164 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1680 

are, and speak them boldly. Go after this impos- 
tor, Monso, and bring him back, that we may 
answer him, face to face ; for he never saw either 
us or the Iroquois, and what can he know of the 
plots that he pretends to reveal ] " ^ Nicanope had 
nothing to reply, and, grvmting assent in the depths 
of his throat, made a sign that the feast should 
proceed. 

The French were lodged in huts, near the Indian 
camp ; and, fearing treachery. La Salle placed a 
guard at night. On the morning after the feast, 
he came out into the frosty air, and looked about 
him for the sentinels. Not one of them was to be 
seen. Vexed and alarmed, he entered hut after 
hut, and roused his drowsy followers. Six of the 
number, including two of the best carpenters, were 
nowhere to be found. Discontented and mutinous 
from the fii'st, and now terrified by the fictions of 
Nicanope, they had deserted, preferring the hard- 
ships of the midwinter forest to the mysterious ter 
rors of the Mississippi. La Salle mustered the rest 
before him, and inveighed sternly against the cow- 
ardice and baseness of those who had thus aban- 
doned him, regardless of his many favors. If any 
liere, he added, are afraid, let them but wait till the 
spring, and they shall have free leave to return to 
Canada, safely and without dishonor.^ 

This desertion cut him to the heart. It showed 



* Tlie above is a paraphrase, with some condensation, from Hennepin, 
whose account is sustaincJ by tlie other writers. 

'^ Hennepin (1G83), 1G2. — Declaration fa'Ue par Moyse Hillarel, cJtarpen- 
tier de barque, ci/ devanl au service du S''- de la Salle, MS. 



1C80.J LA SALLE AGAIN POISONED. 165 

him tliat he was leanmg on a broken reed ; and he 
felt that, on an enterprise full of doubt and peril, 
there were scarcely four men in his ]^arty whom he 
could trust. Nor was desertion the worst he had 
to fear; for here, as at Fort Frontenac, an attempt 
was made to kill him. Tonty tells us that poison 
was placed in the pot in which their food was 
cooked, and that La Salle was saved by an antidote 
which some of his friends had given him before he 
left France. This, it will be remembered, was an 
epoch of poisoners. It was in the following month 
that the notorious La Voisin was burned alive, at 
Paris, for practices to which many of the highest 
nobility were charged with being privy, not except- 
ing some in whose veins ran the blood of the 
gorgeous spendthrift who ruled the destinies of 
France.^ 

In these early French enterprises in the West, it 
was to the last degree difficult to hold men to their 
duty. Once fairly in the wilderness, completely 
freed from the sharp restraints of authority in which 
they had passed their lives, a spirit of lawlessness 
broke out among them with a violence proportioned 
to the pressure which had hitherto controlled it. 
Discipline had no resources and no guarantee ; 
while those outlaws of the forest, the coureurs de 
bois, were always before their eyes, a standing 
example of unbridled license. La Salle, eminently 

• Tiic equally famous Brinvilliers was burned four years before. An 
account of both will be found in the Letters of Madame de Sevignc. Tlie 
memoirs of the time abound in evidence of the frightful prevalence of 
these i»racticcs, and the commotion which they excited in all ranks of 
society. 



166 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1680 

skilful in his dealings with Indians, was rarely so 
happy with his own countrymen ; and yet the de- 
sertions from which he was continually suffering 
were due far more to the inevitable difficulty of his 
position than to any want of conduct. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

1680. 
FORT CREVECCEUR. 

Bt'iiJ>ixG OF THE Fort. — Loss of the " Griffin." — A Bold Resoltjtion. 
— Another Vessel. — Hennepin sent to the Mississippi. — Depar- 
ture of La Salle. 

La Salle now resolved to leave the Indian camp, 
and fortify himself for the winter in a strong posi 
tion, where his men wonld be less exposed to dan 
gerons influence, and where he could hold his 
ground against an outbreak of the Illinois or an 
Iroquois invasion. At the middle of January, a 
thaw broke up the ice which had closed the 
river ; and he set out in a canoe, with Hennepin, to 
visit the site he had chosen for his projected fort. 
It was half a league below the camp, on a little 
hill, or knoll, two hundred yards from the southern 
bank. On either side was a deep ravine, and, in 
front, a low ground, overflowed at high water. 
Thither, then, the party was removed. They dug 
a ditch behind the hill, connecting the two ravines, 
and thus completely isolating it. The hill was near- 
ly square in form. An embankment of earth was 
thrown up on every side : its declivities were sloped 
steeply down to the bottom of the ra^anes and the 



168 FORT CRfeVECGEUR. jlOSO. 

ditch, and further guarded by cJievaiix-de-frise ; 
while a palisade, twenty-five feet high, was planted 
around the whole. The men were lodged in huts, 
at the angles : in the middle there was a cabin of 
planks for La Salle and Tonty, and another for the 
three friars ; while the blacksmith had his shed and 
forge in the rear. 

Hennepin laments the failure of wine, which 
prevented him from saying mass ; but every morn- 
ing and evening he summoned the men to his cabin, 
to listen to prayers and preaching, and on Sundays 
and fete days they chanted A^espers. Father Ze- 
nobe usually spent the day in the Indian camp, 
striving, with very indifferent success, to win them 
to the faith, and to overcome the disgust with which 
their manners and habits inspired him. 

Such was the first civilized occupation of the 
region which now forms the State of Illinois. The 
spot may still be seen, a little below Peoria. La 
Salle christened his new fort Fort Crevecoeur. The 
name tells of disaster and suffering, but does no 
justice to the iron-hearted constancy of the sufferer. 
Up to this time he had clung to the hope that his 
vessel (the " GrifRn") might still be safe. Her safety 
was vital to his enterprise. She had on board arti- 
cles of the last necessity to him, including the rig- 
ging and anchors of another vessel, which he was to 
build at Fort Crevecceur, in order to descend the iNlis- 
sissippi, and sail thence to the West Indies. But 
now his last hope had well-nigh vanished. Past all 
reasonable doubt, the " Griffin" was lost ; and in her 
loss he and all his plans seemed ruined alike. 



1C80.] LOSS OF THE "GRIFFIN." 169 

Nothing, indeed, was ever heard of her. Indians, 
fur-traders, and even Jesuits, have been charged 
witii contriving lier destruction. Some say that the 
Ottawas boarded and burned her, after murdering 
those on board ; others accuse the Pottawattamies ; 
others affirm that her own crew scuttled and sunk 
her; others, again, that she foundered in a storm.' 
As for La Salle, the belief grew in him to a settled 
conviction, that she had been treacherously sunk by 
the pilot and the sailors to whom he had intrusted 
her ; and he thought he had found evidence that 
the authors of the crime, laden with the merchan- 
dise they had taken from her, had reached the Mis- 
sissippi and ascended it, hoping to join Du Lhut, a 
famous chief of coiireurs de hois, and enrich them- 
selves by traffic with the northern tribes.^ 

But whether her lading Avas swallowed in the 
depths of the lake, or lost in the clutches of traitors, 
the evil was alike past remedy. She was gone, it 
mattered little how. The main-stay of the enter- 
prise was broken ; yet its inflexible chief lost neither 

1 Clmrlevoix, i. 459 ; La Potlierie, ii. 140 ; La Hontan, Memoir on the 
Fur-Trade of Canada, MS. I am indebted for a copy of this paper to 
Winthrop Sargent, Esq., who purcliased the original at tlie sale of tlie 
library of tlie poet Southey. Like Hennepin, La Hontan went over to 
the English ; and this memoir is written in tiieir interest. 

- Lellre de in Suite a L(i Barre, Chicar/ou, 4 Juin, 1G83, MS. This is a 
long letter, addressed to the successor of Frontcnac, in the government 
of Canada. La Salle says that a young Indian belonging to him told him 
that, three years before, he saw a white man, answering the description of 
the ])ilot, a prisoner among a tribe beyond the Mississippi. Ho had been 
captured with four others on that river, while making his way with canoes 
laden with goods, towards the Sioux. His companions had been killed. 
Other circumstances, which La Salle ilctails at great length, convinced 
him that the white prisoner was no other than the pilot of the " Griffin." 
The evidence, however, is not conclusive. 

15 



170 FORT CREVI-:C(EUR. [1080. 

heart nor hope. One path, beset with hardships 
and terrors, still lay open to him. He might return 
on foot to Fort Frontenac, and bring thence the 
needful succors. 

La Salle felt deeply the dangers of such a step. 
His men were uneasy, discontented, and terrified 
by the stories, with which the jealous Illinois still 
constantly filled their ears, of the whirlpools and 
the monsters of the Mississippi. He dreaded, lest, 
in his absence, they should follow the example of 
their comrades, and desert. In the midst of his 
anxieties, a lucky accident gave him the means of 
disabusing them. He was hunting, one day, near 
the fort, when he met a young Illinois, on his way 
home, half-starved, from a distant war excursion. 
He had been absent so long that he knew nothing 
of what had passed between his countrymen and 
the French. La Salle gave him a turkey he h.ad 
shot, invited him to the fort, fed him, and made him 
presents. Having thus warmed his heart, he ques- 
tioned him, with apparent carelessness, as to the 
countries he had visited, and especially as to the 
Mississippi, on which the young warrior, seeing no 
reason to disguise the truth, gave him all the infer 
mation he required. La Salle now made him the 
present of a hatchet, to engage him to say nothing 
of what had passed, and, leaving him in excellent 
humor, repaired, with some of his followers, to the 
Illinois camp. Here he found the chiefs seated at 
a feast of bear's meat, and he took his place among 
them on a mat of rushes. After a pause, he 
charged them with having deceived him in regard 



1680.1 ANOTITER VESSEL. 171 

to tliG Mississippi, adding that he knew the river 
perfectly, having been instructed concerning it by tlie 
Master of Life. He then described it to them with 
so much accuracy that his astonished hearers, con- 
ceiving that he owed his knowledge to " medicine,"' 
or sorcery, clapped their hands to their mouths, in 
sign of wonder, and confessed that all they had said 
was but an artifice, inspired by their earnest desire 
that he should remain among them.^ 

Here was one source of danger stopped ; one 
motive to desert removed. La Salle again might 
feel a reasonable security that idleness would not 
breed mischief among his men. The chief purpose 
of his intended journey was to procure the equip- 
ment of a vessel, to be built at Fort Crevecocur ; 
and he resolved that before he set out he would 
see her on the stocks. The pit-sawyers and some 
of the carpenters had deserted ; but energy sup- 
plied the place of skill, and he and Tonty urged 
on the work with such vigor that within six weeks 
the hull was nearly finished. She was of forty tons 
burden,- and built with high bulwarks to protect 
those within from the arrows of hostile Indians. 

La Salle now bethought him that in his absence 
he might get from Hennepin service of more value 
than his sermons ; and he requested him to descend 
the Illinois, and explore it to its mouth. The friar, 

1 Relation des Ddcoitvertes et des Voyages du S''- de la Salle, Seifjneur et 
Gouverneiir du Fort de Frontenac, au dela des rjrands Lacs de la Nouvelle 
France, fails par ordre de Monseigneur Colbert; 1670, 80 et 81, MS. lleu- 
uepin gives a story •which is not essentially different, except that he 
makes himself a conspicuous actor in it. 

2 Letlre de Duchesneau, a , 10 Nov. 1680, MS. 



172 FORT CREVECCEUR. [1680. 

though hardy and daring, would fain have excused 
himself, alleging a troublesome bodily infirmity ; 
but his venerable colleague, Ribourde, — himself 
too old for the journey, — urged him to go, telling 
him that if he died by the way, his apostolic labors 
would redound to the glory of God. Membre had 
been living for some time in the Indian camp, and 
was thoroughly out of humor with the objects of 
his missionary efforts, of whose obduracy and filtli 
he bitterly complained. Hennepin proposed to take 
his place, while he should assume the Mississippi 
adventure ; but this Membre declined, preferring to 
remain where he was. Hennepin now reluctantly 
accepted the proposed task. " Anybody but me,"' 
he says, with his usual modesty, " would have been 
very much frightened at the dangers of such a 
journey ; and, in fact, if I had not placed all my 
trust in God, I should not have been the dupe 
of the Sieur de la Salle, who exposed my life 
rashly." ' 

On the last day of February, Hennepin's canoe 
lay at the water's edge ; and the party gathered on 
the bank to bid him farewell. He had two com- 
panions, INIichel Accau, and a man known as the 
Picard Du Gay," though his real name was Antoine 
Auguel. The canoe was well laden with gifts for 
the Indians, — tobacco, knives, beads, awls, and 

1 " Tout autre que moi en auroit cte fort cbranle. Et en effet, je 
n'eiisse pas cte la duppe du Sieur de la Salle, qui m'exposait tcmeraire- 
nient, si je n'eusse nils toute ma confiance en Dieu " (1704), 241. 

■'' An eminent writer has mistaken "Picard" for a personal name. 
Du Gay was called " Le Picard," because he came from the province of 
Picardy. Accau, and not Hennepin, was the real cliiel of the party. 



1680.] LA SALLE'S JOURNEY. 173 

other goods, to a very considerable value, siijipliod 
at La Salle's cost ; " and, in fact," observes Henne- 
pin,* " he is liberal enough towards his friends." ' 

The friar bade farewell to La Salle, and embraced 
all the rest in turn. Father Ribourdc gave him his 
benediction. " Be of good courage and let your 
heart be comforted," said the excellent old mission- 
ary, as he spread his hands in benediction over the 
shaven crown of the reverend traveller. Du Gay 
and Accau plied their paddles ; the canoe receded, 
and vanished at length behind the forest. We 
Avill follow Hennepin hereafter on his adventures, 
imaginary and real. Meanwhile, we will trace the 
footsteps of his chief, urging his way. in the storms 
of Avi'nter, througli those vast and gloomy wilds, — 
those realms of famine, treachery, and death, that 
lay betwixt him and his far-distant goal of Fort 
Frontenac. 

On the second of March,~ before the frost was 
yet out of the ground, when the forest was still 
leafless and gray, and the oozy prairie still patched 
with snow, a band of discontented men were again 
gathered on the shore for another leave-taking. 
Hard by, the unfinished ship lay on the stocks, 
white and fresh from the saw and axe, ceaselessly 
reminding' them of the hardship and peril that was 
in store. Here you would have seen the calm 
impenetrable face of La Salle, and with him the 
Mohegan hunter, who seems to have felt towards 

^ (1C83), 188. This commeiulntion is supprcsscil in tlio lattT edi- 
tions. 

'■* Toiity erroneously places tlicir departure on the twenty-souond. 

1.:* 



174 rORT CREVECCEUR. [1680 

liim that admiring attachment Avhich he could al- 
ways inspire in his Indian retainers. Besides the 
Mohegan, four Frenchmen were to accompany 
him : Hunaud, La Violette, Collin, and Dautray.^ 
His parting with Tonty was an anxious one, for 
each well knew the risks that environed both. 
Embarking with his follo\vers in two canoes, he 
made his Avay upward amid the drifting ice ; while 
the faithful Italian, with two or three honest men 
and twelve or thirteen knaves, remained to hold 
Fort Crevecocur in his absence. 

1 Dvdarulion fa'ile par Motjse llillaret, charpentier de barque, MS 



CHAPTER XV. 

1G80. 
HAEDIIIOOD OF LA SALLE. 

The Winter Jourxey. — The Deserted Town. — Starved Rdck — 
LaivE Michigan. — The Wilderness. — War Parties. — La Salle's 
# Men give out. — III Tidings. — Mutiny. — Chastisement ok the 
Mutineers. 

The winter had been a severe one. When 
La Salle and his five companions reached Peoria 
Lake, they found it sheeted from shore to shore 
with ice that stopped the progress of their canoes, 
but was too thin to bear the weight of a man. 
They dragged their light vessels up the bank and 
mto the forest, where the city of Peoria now 
stands ; made two rude sledges, placed the canoes 
and baggage upon them, and, toiling knee-deep in 
saturated snow, dragged them four leagues through 
the woods, till they reached a point where the 
motion of the current kept the water partially 
open. They were now on the river above the 
lake. Masses of drift ice, wedged together, but 
full of crevices and holes, soon barred the wa} 
again ; and, carrying their canoes ashore, they 
dragged them two leagues over a frozen marsh. 
Rain fell in floods ; and, when night came, tlicy 
crouched for shelter in a deserted Lidian hut. 



176 HATIDIIIOOD OF LA SALLE. [IGSO. 

In the morning, the third of March, they dragged 
their canoes half a league farther ; then launched 
them, and, breaking the ice with clubs and hatchets, 
forced their way slowly up the stream. Again their 
progress was barred, and again they took to the 
woods, toiling onward till a tempest of moist, half- 
liquid snow forced them to bivouac for the night. 
A sharp frost followed, and in the morning the 
white waste around them was glazed with a daz- 
zling crust. Now, for the "first time, they could 
use their snow-shoes. Bending to their work, 
drao-oincf their canoes which "iided smoothly OA'ei^ 
the polished surface, they journeyed on hour after 
hour and league after league, till they reached at 
length the great town of the Illinois, still void of 
its inhabitants.^ 

It was a desolate and lonely scene, — the river 
gliding dark and cold between its banks of rushes ; 
the empty lodges, covered with crusted snow ; the 
Aast white meadows ; the distant cliffs, bearded 
with shining icicles ; and the hills wrapped in 
forests, which glittered from afar with the icy 
incrustations that cased each frozen twig. Yet 
there was life in the savage landscape. The men 
saw buffalo wading in the snow, and they killed 
one of them. More than this : they discovered the 
tracks of moccasons. They cut rushes by the edge 
of the river, piled them on the bank, and set them 



• ]\Ioinbre says that he was in tlie town at the time, but tliis could 
hardly liave been the case. He was, in all probability, among the Illinois 
in their ciiuip ntiur L'ort Croveccuur. 



1080.] INDIANS. m 

on fii-e, that the smoke might attract the eyes of 
savages roaming near. 

On the following day, while the hnnters were 
smoking the meat of the buffalo, La Salle went out 
to reconnoitre, and presently met three Indians, one 
of whom proved to be Chassagoac, the prineipal 
chief of the Illinois.^ La Salle brought them to 
his bivouac, feasted them, gave them a red blanket, 
a kettle, and some knives and hatchets, made friends 
with them, promised to restrain the L'oquois from 
attacking them, told them that he was on his way 
to the settlements to bring arms and ammunition 
to defend them against their enemies, and, as the 
result of these advances, gained from the chief a 
promise that he would send provisions to Tonty's 
party at Fort Crevecceur. 

After several days spent at the deserted town. 
La Salle prepared to resume his journey. Before 
his departure, his attention was attracted to the 
remarkable cliff of yellow sandstone, now called 
Starved Eock, a mile or more above the village, — 
a natural fortress, w^hich a score of resolute white 
men might make good against a host of savages ; 
and he soon afterwards sent Tonty an order to 
examine it, and make it his stronghold in case of 
need." 

1 Tlie same whom Hennepin calls Chassagouasse. He was brother 
of tlie chief, Nicanope', wlio, in his absence, liad feasted tlie Frencli on 
the day after the nocturnal council witli ]\Ionso. Ciiassagoac was after- 
wards baptized by Membre or Ribourde, but soon relapsed into the super- 
stitions of his people, and died, as the former tells us, " doubly a cliild of 
perdition." See Le Ciercq, ii. 181. 

'^ 'I'unty, Me'moire, MS. Tlie order was sent by two Frenchraon whom 
La Salle met on Lake Michigan. 



178 HARDIHOOD OF LA SALLE. [1680. 

On the fifteenth, the party set out again, carried 
their canoes along the bank of the river as far as 
the rapids above Ottawa ; then launched them and 
pushed their way upward, battling with the floating 
ice, which, loosened by a warm rain, drove down 
the swollen current in sheets. On the eighteenth, 
they reached a point some miles below the site of 
J oliet, and here found the river once more com- 
pletely closed. Despairing of farther progress by 
water, they hid their canoes on an island, and struck 
across the country for Lake Michigan. Each, be- 
sides his gun, carried a knife and a hatchet at his 
belt, a blanket strapped at his back, and a piece of 
dressed hide to make or mend his moccasons. A 
store of powder and lead, and a kettle, completed 
the outfit of the party. ^ 

It was the worst of all seasons for such a journey. 
The nights were cold, but the sun was warm at 
noon, and the half-thawed prairie was one vast 
tract of mud, water, and discolored, half-liquid snow. 
On the twenty-second, they crossed marshes and 
inundated meadows, wading to the knee, till at 
noon they were stopped by a river, perhaps the 
Calumet. They made a raft of hard wood timber, 
for there was no other, and shoved themselves 
across. On the next day, they could see Lake 
^lichigan, dimly glimmering beyond the waste of 
woods ; and, after crossing three swollen streams, 
they reached it at evening. On the twenty-fourth, 
they followed its shore, till, at nightfall, they arrived 

1 Hennepin (1GS3), 173. 



1C80.] THE -WILDETINESS OF MICHIGAN. 179 

at the fort, which they had built in the autumn at 
the mouth of the St. Joseph. Here La Salle found 
Chapclle and Leblanc, the two men whom he had 
sent fi-om hence to Michillimackinac, in search of 
the " Griffin." ' They reported that they had made 
the circuit of the lake, and had neither seen her 
nor heard tidings of her. Assured of her fate, he 
ordered them to rejoin Tonty at Fort Crevecceur ; 
while he pushed onward with his party through 
the unknown wild of Southern Michigan. 

They were detained till noon of the twenty-fifth, 
in making a raft to cross the St. Joseph. Then 
they resumed their march ; and as they forced their 
way through the brambly thickets, their clothes were 
torn, and their faces so covered with blood, that, 
says the journal, they could hardly know each other. 
•Game was very scarce, and they grew faint with 
hunger. In two or three days they reached a 
happier region. They shot deer, bears, and turkeys 
in tlie forest, and fared sumptuously. But the re- 
ports of their guns fell on hostile ears. This was 
a debatable ground, infested with war-parties of 
several adverse tribes, and none could venture here 
without risk of life. On the evening of the twenty- 
eighth, as they lay around their fire under the shel- 
ter of a forest by the border of a prairie, the man 
on guard shouted an alarm. They sprang to their 
feet ; and each, gun in hand, took his stand behind 
a tree, while yells and bowlings filled the surround- 
ing darkness. A band of Indians were upon them ; 

1 Difclaration de Hfoi/se Ilillard, MS. Relation des Dtfcoiivertes, MS. 



l80 HARDIHOOD OF LA SALLE. [168C. 

but, seeing them prepared, the cowardly assailants 
did not wait to exchange a shot. 

They crossed great meadows, overgrown with 
rank grass, and set it on fire to hide the traces 
of their passage. La Salle bethought him of a 
device to keep their skulking foes at a distance. 
On the trunks of trees from which he had stripped 
the bark, he drew with charcoal the marks of an 
Iroquois war-party, with the usual signs for prison- 
ers, and for scalps, hoping to delude his pursuers 
Avith the belief that he and his men were a band 
of these dreaded warriors. 

Thus, over snowy prairies and half-frozen marshes; 
wading sometimes to their waists in mud, water, and 
bulrushes, they urged their way through the spongy, 
saturated wilderness. During three successive days 
they were aware that a party of savages was dog- 
ging their tracks. They dared riot make a fh"e at 
night, lest the light shoidd betray them ; but, hanging 
their wet clothes on the trees, they rolled them- 
selves in their blankets, and slept together among 
piles of spruce and pine boughs. But the night 
of the second of April Avas excessively cold. Then* 
clothes were hard frozen, and they were forced to 
kindle a fire to thaw and dry them. Scarcely had 
the light begun to glimmer through the gloom of 
evening, than it was greeted from the distance by 
mingled yells ; and a troop of Mascoutin warriors 
rushed towards them. They were stopped by a 
deep stream, a hundred paces from the bivouac of 
the French, and La Salle went forward to meet 
them. No sooner did they see him, and learn that 



1680.] THE DETROIT. 183 

he was a Frenchman, than they cried that they were 
friends and brothers, who had mistaken him and 
his men for Iroquois ; and, abandoning their hos 
tile purpose, they peacefully withdrew. Thus hi« 
device to avert danger had well-nigh proved the 
destruction of the whole party. 

Two days after this adventure, two of the men 
fell ill from fiitigue and exposure, and sustained 
themselves with difficulty till they reached the banks 
of a river, probably the Huron. Here, while the 
sick men rested, their companions made a canoe. 
There were no birch-trees ; and they were forced 
to use elm bark, which at that early season would 
not slip freely from the wood until they loosened 
it with hot water. Their canoe being made, they 
embarked in it, and for a time floated prosperously 
down the stream, when at length tlie way was barred 
by a matted barricade of trees fallen across the 
water. The sick men could now walk again ; and, 
pushing eastward through the forest, the party soon 
reached the banks of the Detroit. 

La Salle directed two of the men to make a canoe, 
and g"o to Michillimackinac, the nearest harborage. 
With the remaining two, he crossed the Detroit on 
a raft, and, striking a direct line across the coun- 
try, reached Lake Erie, not far from Point Pelee. 
Snow, sleet, and rain pelted them with little inter- 
mission ; and when, after a walk of about thirty 
miles, they gained the lake, the Mohegan and one 
of the Frenchmen Avere attacked with fever and 
spitting of blood. Only one man now remained in 
health. With his aid. La Salle made another canoe, 

16 



182 UARDIIIOOD OF LA SALLE. [16bO. 

and, embarking the invalids, pushed for Niagara 
It was Easter Monday, when they landed at a cabin 
of logs above the cataract, probably on the spot 
where the " Griffin" was built. Here several of La 
Salle's men had been left the year before, and here 
they still remained. They told him woful news. 
Not only had he lost the " Griffin," and her lading 
of ten thousand crowns in value, but a ship from 
France, freighted with his goods, valued at more 
than twenty-two thousand livres, had been totally 
Avrecked at the mouth of the St. Lawrence ; and 
of twenty hired men on their way from Europe to 
join him, some had been detained by his enemy, 
the Intendant Duchesneau, while all but four 
of the remainder, being told that he was dead, 
had found means to return home. 

His three followers were all unfit for travel : he 
alone retained his strength and spirit. Taking 
with him three fresh men at Niagara, he resumed 
his journey, and on the sixth of May descried, 
looming through floods of rain, the familiar shore:* 
of his seigniory and the bastioned walls of Fort 
Frontenac. During sixty-five days he had toiled 
almost incessantly, travelling, by the course he 
took, about a thousand miles through a country 
beset with every form of peril and obstruction ; 
" the most arduous journey," says the chronicler, 
" ever made by Frenchmen in America." Such 
was Cavelier de la Salle. In him, an unconquer- 
able mind held a:t its service a frame of iron, and 
tasked it to the utmost of its endurance. The 
pioneer of western pioneers was no rude son of 



lOSO-I THE MUTINEERS. 183 

toil, but a man of tliougiit, trained amid arts and 
letters.^ 

He had reached his goal ; but for him there was 
neither rest nor peace. Man and nature seemed 
in arms against him. His agents had plundered 
him ; his creditors had seized his property ; and 
several of his canoes, richly laden, had been lost in 
the rapids of the St. Lawrence.^ He hastened to 
Montreal, where his sudden advent caused great 
astonishment ; and where, despite his crippled re- 
sources and damaged credit, he succeeded, within 
a week, in gaining the supplies which he required, 
and the needful succors for the forlorn band on the 
Illinois. He had returned to Fort Frontenac, and 
was on the point of embarking for their relief, 
when a blow fell upon him more disheartening 
than any that had preceded. On the twenty-second 
of July, two voyageurs. Messier and Laurent, came 
to him with a letter from Tonty ; who wrote that 
soon after La Salle's departure, nearly all the men 
had deserted, after destroying Fort Crevecceur, plun- 
dering the magazine, and throwmg into the river all 
the arms, goods, and stores which they could not 
carry off. The messengers who brought this letter 
were speedily followed by two of the hahitans of 

1 A Itocky Mountain trapper, Tjeing complimented on the liardiliood 
of liimself and Ids comjjanions, once said to tlie writer, "That's so; but a 
gentleman of the right sort will stand hardship better than anybody else." 
Tiie history of Arctic; and African travel, and the military records of all 
time, are a stamiing: evidence tliat a traineil and developed mind is not 
the enemy, but tiie active and powerful ally, of constitutional hardihood. 
The culture that enervates instead of strengthening is always a false or 8 
partii)' one. 

- Zenobe Membrc in Le Clercq, 11. 202. 



184 HARDIHOOD OF LA SALLE. [1680. 

Fort Frontenac, who had been trading on the 
lakes, and who, with a iidehty which the unhappy 
La Salle rarely knew how to inspire, had travelled 
day and night to bring him their tidings. They 
reported that they had met the deserters, and that 
having been reinforced by recruits gained at iSIichil- 
limackinac and Niagara, they now numbered twenty 
men.^ They had destroyed the fort on the St. Joseph, 
seized a quantity of furs belonging to La Salle at 
Michillimackinac, and plundered the magazine at 
Niagara. Here they had separated, eight of them 
coasting the south side of Lake Ontario to find 
harborage at Albany, a common refuge at that 
time of this class of scoundrels ; while the re- 
maining twelve, in three canoes, made for Fort 
Frontenac along the north shore, intending to kill 
La Salle as the surest means of escaping punish- 
ment. 

He lost no time in lamentation. Of the few 
men at his command, he chose nine of the trustiest, 
embarked with them in canoes, and went to meet 
the marauders. After passing the Bay of Quinte, 
he took his station with five of his party at a point 

1 Wlien La Salle was at Niagara, in April, he had ordercfl Dautray, 
tlie best of tlie men who had accompanied him from the Illinois, to return 
tliither as soon as he was able. Pour men from Niagara were to go with 
liim, and he was to rejoin Tonty with sucli supplies as that post could 
furnish. Dautraj' set out accordingly, but was met on the lakes by the 
deserters, who told him that Tonty was dead, and seduced liis men. — 
Relation des Decoiivertes, MS. Dautray himself seems to have remained 
true ; at least he was in La Salle's service immediately after, and was 
one of his most trusted followers. He was of good birth, being the 
son of Jean Bourdon, a conspicuous personage in the early period of 
the colony, and his name appears on official records as Jean Bourdon, 
Sieur d'Autray. 



1G80.J CHASTISEMENT. 185 

of land suited to liis purpose, and detached the 
remaining four to keep watch. In the morning 
two canoes were discovered, approaching without 
suspicion, one of thorn far in advance of the other. 
As the foremost drew near, La Salle's canoe darted 
out from under the leafy shore ; two of the men 
handling the paddles, while he with the remaining 
two levelled their guns at the deserters, and called 
on them to surrender. Astonished and dismayed, 
they yielded at once ; while two more who were in 
the second canoe hastened to follow their example. 
La Salle now returned to the fort with his pris- 
oners, placed them in custody, and again set forth. 
He met the third canoe upon the lake at about six 
o'clock in the evening. His men vainly plied their 
paddles m pursuit. The mutineers reached the 
shore, took post among rocks and trees, levelled 
their guns, and showed fight. Four of La Salle's 
men made a circuit to gain their rear and dislodge 
them ; on which they stole back to their canoe, and 
tried to escape in the darkness. They were pur- 
sued, and summoned to yield ; but they replied by 
aiming their guns at their piu'suers, who instantly 
gave them a volley, killed two of them, and cap- 
tured the remaining three. Like their companions, 
they were placed in custody at the fort to await the 
arrival of Count Fronteuac.V 



^ The ston' of La Salle's journey from Fort Crevecoeur to Fort Fron- 
teiiac, with iiis subsequent encounter with tlie nuitineers, is given in '^veat 
detail in the iinpublislietl Rclalion (It's De'ronverft's. This and other [loriions 
of it are compiled, with little ahridiiinent.frotn the letters of La Salle him- 
self, some of which are still in exi:<tence. They give the ])arti(;ulars of 
each day with a cool and business-like simplicity, recounting fads with- 

IG* 



186 HARDIHOOD of la SALLE. [1680. 

out comment or tlie sliglitcst attempt at rlietorical emljcllisliment. Tliis 
is the authority for tlie tletails of tlie journey : the general statement is 
confirmed by Membrc', Hennepin, and Tonty. Tlie Me'moire of Tonty, 
thougli too concise, is excellent autliority, and must by no means be con- 
founded with the lidalion de la Louisiane, to which his name is falsely 
affixed. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

1680. 
INDIAN CONQUERORS. 

The Extekprise renewed. — Attempt to rescue Toxty — Buffalo. — 
A rmciiTFUL DiscovEKY. — Iroquois Fury — The Ruined Town.— 
A Night of IIoukou. — Traces of the Invaders. — No News o» 

TOJJTY. 

And now La Salle's work must be begun afresh. 
He had staked all, and all had seemmgly been 
lost. In stern relentless effort he had touched the 
limits of human endurance ; and the harvest of his 
toils was disappointment, disaster, and impending 
ruin. The shattered fabric of his enterprise was 
prostrate in the dust. Ilis friends desponded ; his 
foes were blatant and exultant. Did he bend be 
fore the storm ? No human eye could pierce the 
veiled depths of his reserved and haughty nature ; 
but the surface was calm, and no sign betrayed a 
shaken resolve or an altered purpose. Where 
weaker men would have abandoned all in de- 
spairing apathy, he turned anew to his work with 
the same vigor and the same apparent confidence 
as if borne on the full tide of success. 

His best hope was in Tonty. Could that brave 
and true-hearted officer, and the three or four faith- 



188 INDIAN CONQUERORS. [1G80. 

ful men who had remamed with him, make good 
their foothold on the Illinois, and save from de- 
struction the vessel on the stocks, and the forge 
and tools so laboriously carried thither, — then, in- 
deed, a basis was left on which the ruined enter- 
prise might be built up once more. There was no 
time to lose. Tonty must be succored soon, or 
succor would come too late. La Salle had already 
provided the necessary material, and a few days 
sufficed to complete his preparations. On the tenth 
of August, he embarked again for the Illinois. 
With him went his lieutenant. La Forest, who 
held of him in fief an island, then called Belle 
Isle, opposite Fort Frontenac.^ A surgeon, ship- 
carpenters, joiners, masons, soldiers, voyageurs, and 
laborers completed his company, twenty-iive men 
in all, with every thing needful for the outfit of the 
vessel. 

His route, though difficult, was not so long as 
that which he had followed the year before. Jle 
ascended the River Humber ; crossed to Lake Sim- 
coe, and thence descended the Severn to the 
Georgian Bay of Lake Huron ; followed its eastern 
shore, coasted the INIanitoulin Islands, and at 
length reached Micliillimackinac. Llere, as usual, 
all was hostile ; and he had great difficulty in 
inducing the Indians, who had been excited against 
him, to sell him provisions. Anxious to reach his 
destination, he puslicd forward with twelve men, 
leaving La Forest to bring on the rest. On the 

1 Robert Cacelier, S''- de la Salle, a Frangois Daupin, S''- de la Forest, 10 
Jutn, 1679, JIS. 



1680.] BUFFALO. 189 

fourth of November,' he reached the ruined fort at 
the mouth of the St. Joseph, and left five of his 
party, with the heavy stores, to wait till La Forest 
should come up, while he himself hastened for- 
ward with six Frenchmen and an Indian. A deep 
anxiety possessed him. For some time past, ru- 
mors had been abroad that the Iroquois were 
preparing to invade the country of the Illinois, 
bent on expelling or destroying them. Here was 
a new disaster, which, if realized, might involve 
him and his enterprise in irretrievable wreck. 

He ascended the St. Joseph, crossed the portage 
to the Kankakee, and followed its course downward 
till it joined the northern branch of the Illinois. 
He had heard nothing of Tonty on the way, and 
neither here nor elsewhere could he discover the 
smallest sign of the passage of white men. His 
friend, therefore, if alive, was probably still at his 
post ; and he pursued his course with a mind light- 
ened, in some small measure, of its load of anxiety. 

When last he had passed here, all was solitude ; 
but now the scene was changed. The boundless 
waste was thronged with life. He beheld that 
wondrous spectacle, still to be seen at times on the 
plains of the remotest West, and the memory of 
which can quicken the pulse and stir the blood 
after the lapse of years. Far and near, the prairie 
was alive with buffalo ; now like black specks 
dotting the distant swells ; now trampling by in 

1 Tliis date is from the Relation. Membre says the twenty-eighth; 
but he is wrong, by his own showing, as lie says tliat tlie party reached 
the Illinois village on the first of December, — an impossibility. 



190 IN^LVN CONQUERORS. [1G80. 

ponderous columns, or filing in" long lines, morn- 
ing, noon, and night, to drink, at the river,-— 
wading, plunging, and snorting in the water; 
climbing the muddy shores, and staring with wild 
eyes at the passing canoes. It was an opportunity 
not to be lost. The party landed, and encamped 
for a hunt. Sometimes they hid under the shelving 
bank, and shot them as they came to drink; some- 
times, "flat on their faces, they dragged themselves 
through the long dead grass, till the savage bulls, 
guardians of the herd, ceased their grazing, raised 
their huge heads, and glared through tangled hair 
at the dangerous intruders ; their horns splintered 
and their grim front scarred with battles, while 
their shaggy mane, like a gigantic lion, well-nigh 
swept the ground.^ The hunt was successful. In 
three days, the hunters killed twelve buffalo, be- 

1 I hare a very vivid recollection of the appearance of an old buffalo 
bnll under such circumstances. Wlicn I was witliin a hundred yards 
of him, he came towards me at a sharp trot as if to make a charge ; but, 
as I remained motionless, he stopped thirty paces off and stared fixedly 
for a long time. At length, he slowly turned, and, in doing so, received 
a shot behind the shoulder, which killed him. It is useless to fire at the 
forehead of a buffalo bull, at least with an ordinary rifle, as the bullet 
flattens against his skidl. A shot at close quarters, just above the nose, 
would probably turn him in a charge. Tlie usual modes of hunting buf- 
falo on foot are those mentioned above. They are commonlj'^ successful ; 
but at times the animals arc excessively shy and wary, while at other 
times they are stupid beyond measure, and can he easdy approached and 
killed. The hunter must remain perfectly motionless after firing, as 
the woimded animal is apt to make a rush at him if he moves. The 
most agreeable mode of hunting buffiilo is, however, on horseback, 
running alongside of them, and shooting them behind the shoulder with 
a pistol or a short gun. A bow and arrow are better tor those who know 
how to use them ; but white men very rarely have tlie skill. I have 
seen, on different occasions, several hundred buffalo killed with arrows, 
by Indians on horseback. This noble game, with the tribes who live on 
it. will soon disappear from the earth. 



1680.] VIOLATED GRAVES 191 

sides deer, geese, and swans. They cut the meat 
into thin flakes, and dried it in the sun, or in the 
smoke of their fires. The men were in high spirits ; 
delighting in the sport, and rejoicing in the pros- 
pect of relieving Tonty and his hungry followei's 
with a bounteous supply. 

They embarked again, and soon approached the 
great town of the Illinois. The buffalo were far 
behind ; and once more the canoes glided on their 
way through a voiceless solitude. No hunters were 
seen ; no saluting whoop greeted their ears. They 
passed the cliff afterwards called the Rock of St. 
Louis, where La Salle had ordered Tonty to build 
his stronghold ; but as he scanned its lofty top, he 
saw no palisades, no cabins, no sign of human 
hand, and still its primeval crest of forests over- 
hung the gliding river. Now the meadow opened 
before them where the great town had stood. They 
gazed, astonished and confounded : all was desola- 
tion. The town had vanished, and the meadow 
was black with fire. They plied their paddles, 
hastened to the spot, landed ; and, as they looked 
around, their cheeks grew white, and the blood was 
frozen in their veins. 

Before them lay a plain once swarming with wiLl 
human life, and covered with Indian dwellings ; now 
a waste of devastaJ:ion and death, strewn with heaps 
of ashes, and bristling with the charred poles and 
stakes which had formed the framework of the 
lodges. At the points of most of them were stuck 
human skulls, half picked by birds of prey.^ Near 

^ "H ne restoit que quelqiics liouts de pcrclies brulocs qui montroictit 
quelle avoit ete re'tenJue Ju village, et sur la plujiart Jesqiielles il y avoit 



192 INDIAN CONQUERORS. fl680. 

at hand was the burial ground of the "vdllage. The 
travellers sickened with horror as they entered its 
revolting precincts. Wolves in multitudes fled at 
their approach ; while clouds of crows or buzzards, 
rising from the hideous repast, wheeled above their 
heads, or settled on the naked branches of the 
neighboring forest. Every grave had been rifled, 
and the bodies flung down from the scaffolds where, 
after the Illinois custom, many of them had been 
placed. The field was strewn with broken bones 
and torn and mangled corpses. A hyena warfare 
had been waged against the dead. La Salle knew 
the handiwork of the Iroquois. The threatened 
blow had fallen, and the wolfish hordes of the five 
cantons had fleshed their rabid fangs in a new 
victim.^ 

Not far distant, the conquerors had made a rude 
fort of trunks, boughs, and roots of trees laid to- 
gether to form a circular enclosure ; and this, too, 
was garnished with skulls, stuck on the broken 
branches, and protruding sticks. The caches, or sub- 

des tc'tcs de morts plantces ct mangoes des corbeaiix." — Relation des D€- 
couccrtcs (111 S''- de la Sullc, IMS. 

1 " Bcaucoup (le carcasses a dcmi rongces par Ics loups, les sepulchres 
dcniolis, les os tires de leurs fosses et cpars par la campagne ; . . . eiifin 
les loups et les corbcaux augmentoicnt par leurs hurleniens et par leurs 
cris I'Jiorreur de ce spectacle." — Ibid. 

'Die above may seem exaggerated, but it accords perfectly with what 
is well establislicd concerning the ferocious character of the Iroquois, and 
the nature of tlieir warfare. Many other tribes have frequently made 
war upon the dead. I have myself known an instance in which five 
corpses of Sioux Indians, placed in trees, after the practice of the western 
bands of that people, were thrown down and kicked into fragments by a 
war party of the Crows, who then held the muzzles of their guns against 
the skulls and blew them to pieces. This happened near the head of the 
Platte, in the summer of 184G. Yet the Ci'ows arc much less ferocious 
than were the Iroquois in La Salle's tinip 



1G80.] A NIGHT OF HORROR. 193 

terranean storehouses of the villagers had been 
broken open, and the contents scattered. The 
cornfields were laid waste, and much of the corn 
thrown into heaps and half burned. As La Salle 
surveyed this scene of havoc, one thought engrossed 
him : where were Tonty and his men ? He searched 
the Iroquois fort ; there were abundant traces of 
its savage occupants, but none whatever of the 
presence of white men. He examined the skulls ; 
but the hair, portions of which clung to nearly all 
of them, was in every case that of an Indian. Even- 
ing came on before He had finished the search. 
The sun set, and the wilderness sank to its savage 
rest. Night and silence brooded over the waste, 
where, far as the raven could wing his flight, 
stretched the dark domain of solitude and horror. 

Yet there was no silence at the spot, where, 
crouched around thek camp-fire. La Salle and his 
companions kept their vigil. The bowlings of the 
wolves filled the frosty air with a fierce and dreary 
dissonance. More deadly foes were not far off, for 
before nightfall they had seen fresh Indian tracks. 
The cold, however, forced them to make a fire ; and 
while some tried to rest around it, the others stood 
on the watch. La Salle could not sleep. Anxiety, 
anguish, fears for his friend, doubts as to what 
course he should pursue, racked his firm mind with 
a i:)ainful indecision, and lent redoubled gloom to 
the terrors that encompassed him.^ 

During the afternoon, he had made a discovery 
which offered, as he thought, a possible clew to the 

1 Relation des D€couvertes, MS. 
17 



194 INDIAN CONQUERORS. [1680 

fate of Tonty, and those with him. In one of 
the Illinois cornfields, near the river, were planted 
six posts painted red, on each of which was dra-svn 
in black a figure of a man with eyes bandaged. 
La Salle supposed them to represent six French- 
men, prisoners in the hands of the Iroquois; and^ 
he resolved to push forward at all hazards, in the 
hope of learning more. When daylight at length 
returned, he told his followers that it was his pur- 
pose to descend the river, and directed three of 
them to await his return near the ruined village. 
They were to hide themselves on an island, con- 
ceal their fire at night, make no smoke by day, 
fire no guns, and keep a close watch. Should the 
rest of the party arrive, they, too, were to wait with 
similar precautions. The baggage was placed in a 
hollow of the rocks, at a place difficult of access ; 
and, these arrangements made, La Salle set out on 
his perilous journey with the four remaining men, 
Dautray, Hunaut, You, and the Indian. Each was 
armed with two guns, a pistol, and a sword; and 
a number of hatchets and other goods were placed 
in the canoe, as presents for Indians whom thev 
might meet. 

Several leagues below the village they found, on 
their right hand close to the river, a sort of island 
made inaccessible by the marshes and water which 
surrounded it. Here the flying Illinois had sought 
refuge ^yith their women and children, and the 
place was full of their deserted huts. On the left 
bank, exactly opposite, was an abandoned camp of 
the Iroquois. On the level meadow stood a liun 



1680.] A HIDEOUS SPECTACLE. 195 

dred and thirteen huts, and on the forest trees 
which covered the hills behind were carved the 
totems, or insignia, of the chiefs, together with marks 
to show the number of followers which each had 
led to the war. La Salle counted five hundred and 
eight v-tAvo warriors. He found marks, too, for the 
Illinois killed or captured, but none to indicate that 
any of the Frenchmen had shared their fate. 

As they descended the river, they passed, on the 
same day, six abandoned camps of the Illinois, and 
opposite to each was a camp of the invaders. The 
former, it was clear, had retreated in a body ; while 
the Iroquois had followed their march, day by day, 
along the other bank. La Salle and his men pushed 
rapidly onward, passed Peoria Lake, and soon 
reached Fort Crcvecocur, which they found, as they 
expected, demolished by the deserters. The vessel 
on the stocks was still left entire, though the Iro- 
quois had found means to draw out the iron nails 
and spikes. On one of the planks were written 
the words: " iVo?^9 sommes tous saiivages : ce 19 
— 16S0 ; " the work, no doubt, of the knaves who 
had pillaged and destroyed the fort. 

La Salle and his companions hastened on, and 
during the following day passed four opposing 
camps of the savage armies. The silence of death 
now reigned along the deserted river, whose lonely 
borders, wrapped deep in forests, seemed lifeless as 
the grave. As they drew near the mouth of the 
stream, they saw a meadow on their right, and, on 
its fi^rthest verge, several human figures, erect yet 
motionless. They landed, and cautiously examined 



196 INDIAN CONQUERORS. [1680. 

the place. The long grass was trampled down, 
and all around were strewn the relics of the hideous 
orgies which formed the ordinary sequel of an Iro- 
quois victory. The figures they had seen were the 
half-consumed bodies of women, still bound to 
the stakes where they had been tortured. Other 
sights there were, too revolting for record.^ All 
the remains were those of women and children. 
The men, it seemed, had fled, and left them to their 
fate. 

Here, again. La Salle sought long and anxiously, 
without finding the smallest sign that could in- 
dicate the presence of Frenchmen. Once more 
descending the river, they soon reached its mouth. 
Before them, a broad eddying current rolled swiftly 
on its way ; and La Salle beheld the Mississippi, 
the object of his day-dreams, the destined avenue 
of his ambition and his hopes. It was no time for 
reflections. The moment was too engrossing, too 
heavily charged with anxieties and cares. From 
a rock on the shore, he saw a tree stretched for- 
ward above the stream; and stripping off its bark 
to make it more conspicuous, he hung upon it a 
board, on which he had drawn the figures of him- 
self and his men, seated in their canoe, and bearing 
a pipe of peace. To this he tied a letter for Tonty, 
informing him that he had returned up the river to 
the ruined village 

* " On ne sfJiuroit exprinier la rage tie ces furieux ni les tourmens 
qu'ils avoient fait souffrir aux niiscrables Tamaroa (a tribe of the Illinois). 
II y en avoit encore Jans ilcs cliauJ'ures qu'ils avoient laissees pleines sur 
les feux, qui depuis s'c'toient c'teints," etc., etc. — Relation des Dicouvertes 
MS. 



1680.J THE COMET. 197 

His four men had behaved admu*ably throughout, 
and they now offered to continue the journey, if he 
saw fit, and follow him to the sea ; but he thought 
it useless to go farther, and was unwilling to aban- 
don the three men whom he had ordered to await 
his return. Accordingly they retraced their course, 
and, paddling at times both day and night, urged 
their canoe so swiftly, that they reached the village 
in the incredibly short space of four days.^ 

The sky was clear ; and, as night came on, the 
travellers saw a prodigious comet blazing above 
this scene of desolation. On that night, it was 
chilling, with a superstitious awe, the hamlets of 
New England and the gilded chambers of Ver- 
sailles ; but it is characteristic of La Salle, that, 
beset as he was with perils, and surrounded with 
ghastly images of death, he coolly notes doAvn the 
phenomenon, — not as a portentous messenger of 
war and woe, but rather as an object of scientific 
curiosity.^ 



1 The distance is about two hundred and fifty miles. The Relation des 
D^couverles saj's that they left the village on the second of December, and 
returned to it on the eleventh, having; left the mouth of the river on the 
Beventh. Very probably, there is an error of date. In other particulars, 
this narrative is sustained by those of Tonty. 

2 This was the " Great Comet of 1680." Dr. B. A. Gould writes me : 
" It appeared in December, 1G80, and was visible until the latter part of 
February, 1681, beinji^ especially brilliant in January." It was said to be 
the largest ever seen. By observations upon it, Newton demonstrated 
the regular revolutions of comets around the sun. " No comet," it is said, 
" has threatened the earth with a nearer approach than that of 1G80." — 
Winlhrop on Comets, Lecture 11. p. 44. Increase Mather, in his Discourse, 
concerninfj Comets, printed at Boston in 108.3, says of this one : " Its appear 
ance was very terrible, the Blaze ascended above 60 Degrees almost to its 
Zenith." Mather thought it fraught with terrific portent to the nations 
of the earth. 

17* 



ly» INDIAN CONQUERORS. [1681. 

He found his three men safely ensconced upon 
their island, where they were anxiously looking for 
his return. After collecting a store of half-burnt 
corn from the ravaged granaries of the Illinois, the 
whole party began to ascend the river, and, on 
the sixth of January, reached the junction of the 
Kankakee with the northern branch. On their 
way downward, they had descended the former 
stream. They now chose the latter, and soon dis- 
covered, by the margin of the Avater, a rude cabin 
of bark. La Salle landed, and examined the spot, 
when an object met his eye which cheered him 
with a bright gleam of hope. It was but a piece 
of Avood, but the wood had been cut with a saw. 
Tonty and his party, then, had passed this way, 
escaping from the carnage behind them. Unhap- 
pily, they had left no token of their passage at the 
fork of the two streams ; and thus La Salle, on his 
voyage downward, had believed them to be still on 
the river below. 

With rekindled hope, the travellers pursued their 
journey, leaving their canoes, and making their way 
overland towards the fort on the St. Joseph. Snow 
fell in profusion, till the earth was deeply buried. 
So light and dry was it, that to walk on snow- 
shoes was impossible ; and La Salle, after his 
custom, took the lead, to break the path and 
cheer on his followers. Despite his tall statiu-e, 
he often waded through drifts to the waist, while 
the men toiled on behind ; the snow, shaken from 
the burdened twigs, showering them as they passed. 
After excessive fatigue, they reached their goal, 



1081.] FORT MIAMI. 199 

and found shelter and safety within the walls of 
Fort Miami. Here was the party left in charge 
of La Forest ; but, to his surprise and grief, La Salle 
heard no tidings of Tonty. He found some amends 
for the disappointment in the fidelity and zeal of 
La Forest's men, who had restored the fort, cleared 
ground for planting, and even sawed the planks 
and timber for a new vessel on the lake. 

And now, while La Salle rests at Fort Miami, 
let us trace the adventures which befell Tonty and 
his followers, after their chief's departure from 
Fort Crevecceur. 



CHAPTER XVn. 

1680. 
TONTT A]J?D THE IROQUOIS. 

The Deserters. — TnE Iroquois War. — The Great Town of ths 
Illinois. — The Alarm. — Onset of the Iroquois. — Peril of 
ToNTY. — A Treacherous Truce. — Intrepidity of Tonty. — Mur- 
der of Ribourde. — War upon tue Dead. 

When La Salle set out on his rugged journey to 
Fort Frontenac, he left, as we have seen, fifteen 
men at Fort Crevecocur, — smiths, ship-carpenters, 
housewrights, and soldiers, besides his servant 
I'Esperance and the two friars Membre and Ri 
bourde. Most of the men were ripe for mutiny 
They had no interest in the enterprise, and no Ijv 
for its chief. They were disgusted at the present 
and terrified at the future. La Salle, too, v/as for 
the most part a stern commander, impeneti-ahle and 
cold ; and when he tried to soothe, conciliate, and 
encourage, his success rarely answered to the ex- 
cellence of his rhetoric. He could always, liow- 
ever, inspire respect, if not love ; bu.t now the 
restraint of his presence was removed. He had 
not been long absent, when a firebrand was thrown 
into the midst of the discontented and restless 
crew. 



1680.] THE DESERTERS. 201 

It may be remembered that La Salle had met 
two of his men, La Chapelle and Leblanc, at his 
fort on the St. Joseph, and ordered them to rejoin 
Tonty. Unfortunately, they obeyed. On arriving, 
they told their comrades that the " Griffin " was 
lost, that Fort Frontenac was seized by the cred- 
itors of La Salle, that he was ruined past recovery, 
and that they, the men, would never receive their 
pay. Their wagres were in arrears for more than 
two years ; and, indeed, it would have been folly to 
pay them before their return to the settlements, as 
to do so would have been a temptation to desert. 
Now, however, the effect on their minds was still 
worse, believing, as many of them did, that they 
would never be paid at all. 

La Chapelle and his companion had brought a 
letter from La Salle to Tonty, directing him to 
examine and fortify the cliff so often mentioned, 
which overhung the river above the great Illinois 
"sillage. Tonty, accordingly, set out on his errand 
wdth some of the men. In his absence, the mal- 
contents destroyed the fort, stole powder, lead, furs, 
and provisions, and deserted, after writing on the 
side of the unfinished vessel the words seen by 
La Salle, " J^ous sommes tous saucages" ^ The 

1 For the particulars of this desertion, Membrc, in Le Clerc, ii. 171, 
Relation des Deccuvertes, !MS. ; Tonty, Mc'inoire, ^IS. ; Dt'<-I(iratiu'ii fiille }iar 
devaul le S''- Duchesneau, Intendanl en Canada, par Moijse UlUard, <li<tijK')iHet 
de barque cij-devant au service du S de la Salle, 17 Aoiist, 1G80, MS. 

Muyse Ilillaret, the " IMiiitre Moyse " of Hennepin, was a riiiulcader 
of the deserters, and seems to have been one of those eajjlnreil hy La 
Salle near Fort Frontenac. Twelve days after, Ilillaret was e.\aiiiii;ed l.y 
La Salle's enemy, the Intendant ; and this paper is the formal staioinent 
made by him. It gives the names of most of tlie men, and liiriii.-^lie» iu- 



202 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1G80 

brave young Sieur de Boisrondet and the servant 
TEspcrance hastened to carry the news to Tonty, 
Avho at once despatched four of those with him, by 
two different routes, to inform La Salle of the 
disaster.^ Besides the two just named, there now 
remained with him only three hired men and the 
Ilccollet friars. With this feeble band, he was 
left among a horde of treacherous savages, who had 
been taught to regard him as a secret enemy. Re- 
solved, a2:)parently, to disarm their jealousy by a 
show of confidence, he took up his abode in the 
midst of them, making his quarters in the great 
village, "whither, as spring opened, its inhabitants 
returned, to the number, according to Membre, of 
seven or eight thousand. Hither he conveyed the 
forge and such tools as he could recover, and here 
he hoped to maintain himself till La Salle should 
reappear. The spring and the summer were past, 
and he looked anxiously for his coming, uncon- 
scious that a storm was gathering in the east, soon 
to burst wdth devastation over the fertile wdlderness 
of the Illinois. 

I have recounted the ferocious triumphs of the 
Iroquois in another volume.^ Throughout a wide 

^''idcntal confirmation of many statements of Hennepin, Tonty, Membre-. 
and tlie Relntion cles Dcconvcrtes. liiliarct, Leblanc, and Le Meilleiir, tlio 
blacksniitli nicknamed La Forsre, went off togetlicr, and tlie rest seem to 
have followed afterwards, llillaret does not admit that any goods were 
wantonly destroyed. 

Tliere is before mo a schedule of the debts of La Salle, made after his 
death. It includes a claim of this man for wages to the amount of 2,500 
livres. 

1 Two of the messengers, Laurent and Messier, arrived safely. The 
otliers seem to have deserted. 

- " The Jesuits in America " 



1680.1 THE IROQUOIS WAR. 203 

semicircle around their cantons they had made the 
forest a solitude, — destroyed the Hurons, extermi- 
nated the Neutrals and the Eries, reduced the for- 
midable Andastes to a helpless insignificance, swept 
the borders of the St. Lawrence with fire, spread 
terror and desolation among the Algonquins of Can- 
ada ; and now, tired of peace, they were seeking, 
to borrow their own savage metaphor, new nations 
to devour. Yet it was not alone their homicidal 
fury that now impelled them to another war. 
Strange as it may seem, this war was in no small 
measure one of commercial advantage. They had 
long traded with the Dutch and English of New 
York, who gave them, in exchange for their furs, 
the guns, ammunition, knives, hatchets, kettles, 
beads, and brandy which had become indispensable 
to them. Game was scarce in their country. They 
must seek their beaver and other skins in the vacant 
territories of the tribes they had destroyed; but 
this did not content them. The French of Canada 
were seeking to secure a monopoly of the furs of 
the north and west; and, of late, the enterprises 
of La Salle on the tributaries of the Mississippi 
had especially roused the jealousy of the Iroquois, 
fomented, moreover, by Dutch and English traders.^ 
These crafty savages would fain reduce all these 
regions to subjection, and draw from thence an ex- 
haustless supply of furs to be bartered for English 
goods with the traders of Albany. They turned 
their eyes first towards the Illinois, the most impor- 

1 Duchesneau, in Paris Does., ix. 163. 



204 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680. 

tant, as well as one of the most accessible, of the 
western Algonquin tribes ; and among La Salle's 
enemies were some in whom jealousy of a hated 
rival could so far override all the best interests of 
the colony that they did not scruple to urge on the 
Iroquois to an invasion which they hoped would 
prove his ruin. The chiefs convened, war was 
decreed, the war-dance was danced, the war-song 
sung, and five hundred warriors began their march. 
In their path lay the town of the Miamis, neighbors 
and kindred of the Illinois. It was always their 
policy to divide and conquer ; and these forest 
Machiavels had intrigued so well among the Mi- 
amis, working craftily on their jealousy, that they 
induced them to join in the invasion, though there 
is every reason to believe that they had marked 
these infatuated allies as their next victims.^ 

Go to the banks of the Illinois where it flows by 
the village of Utica, and stand on the meadow that 
borders it on the north. In front glides the river 
a musket-shot in width ; and from the farther bank 
rises, with gradual slope, a range of wooded hills 
that hide from sight the vast prairie behind them. 
A mile or more on your left these gentle acclivi- 
ties end abruptly in the lofty front of the groat 
cliff, called by the French the Rock of St. Louis, 
looking boldly out from the forests that environ it ; 
and, three miles distant on your right, you discern 



1 Tliere had long been a raiiklinpr jealousy between tlie Miamis and 
tlio Illinois. According to JMeinbrc, La Salle's enemies liad intrigued 
eucccssfully among tlie former, as well as among the Iroquois, to induce 
them to t;ike arms against the Illinois. 



1680.] THE ILLINOIS TOWN. 205 

a gap in the steep bluffs that here bound the valley, 
marking the mouth of the River Vermilion, called 
Ai-amoni by the French.^ Now stand in fancy on 
this same spot in the early autumn of the year 1680. 
You are in the midst of the great town of the Illi- 
nois, — hundreds of mat-covered lodges and thou- 
sands of congregated savages. Enter one of their 
dwellings : they will not think you an intruder. 
Some friendly squaw will lay a mat for you by the 
fire ; you may seat yourself upon it, smoke your 
pipe, and study the lodge and its inmates by the 
light that streams through the holes at the top. 
Three or four fires smoke and smoulder on the 
ground down the middle of the long arched struc- 
ture ; and as to each fire there are two families, the 
place is somewhat crowded when all are present. 
But now there is space and breathing room, for 
many are in the fields. A squaw sits weaving a mat 
of rushes ; a warrior, naked, except his moccasons, 
and tattooed with fantastic de\dces, binds a stone 
arrow-head to its shaft with the fresh sinews of a 
buffalo. Some lie asleep, some sit staring in va- 



1 Tlie above is from notes made on the spot. The followhig is La 
Salle's ilcscription of the locality in tlie li^lddon des D^couvertes, written in 
1G81 : " La rive gauche de la riviere, du cote du sud, est occupce par un 
\:m<: rodier, fort e'troit et escarpe' presque partout, a la re'serve d'un endroit 
de plus d'une lieue de longueur, situc vis-i-vis du village, ou le terrain, 
tout convert de heaux cheues, s'otend par une pente douce jusqu'au Lord 
do hi riviere. Au dei^i de cette hauteur est une vaste plaine, qui s'otend 
bieri loin du coto du sud, et qui est traversc'e par la rivi6re Aranioni, dont 
les bords sont converts d'une lisiore de bois pen large." 

The Aranioni is laid down on tlie great manuscript map of Franquelin, 
1084, and on the map of Coronclli, 1088. It is, without doubt, the Big 
Vermilion. Starved Kock, or the Kock of St. Louis, is the liigliest and 
steepest escarpment of the lotii/ rocker above mentioned. 

18 



20b TOXTY AND TUE IROQUOIS. [1630. 

cancy, some are eating, some are squatted in lazy 
chat around a fire. The smoke brings water to 
your eyes ; the fleas annoy you ; small unkempt 
children, naked as young puppies, crawl about your 
knees and will not be repelled. You have seen 
enough. You rise and go out again into the sun- 
light. It is, if not a peaceful, at least a languid 
sc(jne. A few voices break the stillness, mingled 
with the joyous chirping of crickets from the grass. 
Young men lie flat on their faces, basking in the 
sun. A group of their elders are smoking around 
a bufl'alo skin on which they have just been playing 
a game of chance with cherry-stones. A lover and 
his mistress, perhaps, sit together under a shed of 
bark without uttering a word. Not far oiF is the 
graveyard, where lie the dead of the village, some 
buried in the earth, some wrapped in skins and laid 
aloft on scafl"olds, above the reach of wolves. In 
the cornfields around, you see squaws at then* labor 
and children driving off" intruding birds ; and youi 
eye ranges over the meadows beyond, spangled with 
the yellow blossoms of the resin-weed and the Rud- 
beckia, or over the bordering hills still green with 
the foliage of summer.^ 

1 Tlie Illinois were an aggregation of distinct though kintlrerl trihes, 
the Kaskaskias, the Peorias, the Cahokias, the Tamaroas, the Moingona, 
and others. Their general character and habits were those of other 
Indian tribes, but they were reputed somewhat cowardly and slothful. In 
tlieir manners, they were more licentious tlian many of their neighbors, 
and addicted to practices which are sometimes su])posed to be the result 
of a perverted civilization. Young men enacting the part of women were 
frequently to be seen among them. These were held in great contempt. 
Some of the early travellers, both among the Illinois and among other 
tribes, where the same practice prevailed, mistook them for hermaphrodites. 
According to Charlevoix {Journal Uislorique, 303), this abuse was due in 



1680.] THE ILLINOIS TOWN ' 207 

This, or something like it, one may safely affirm, 
was the aspect of the Illinois village at noon of the 
tenth of September.' In a hut, apart from the rest, 
you would probably have found the Frenchmen. 
/Vmong them was a man, not strong in person, and 
disabled, moreover, by the loss of a hand ; yet, in 
this den of bari)arism, betraying the language and 
bearing of one formed in the most polished civiliza-" 
lion of Europe. This was Henri de Tonty. The 
others were young Boisrondet, and the two faithful 
men who had stood by their commander. The 
friars, Membre and Ribourde, were not in the vil- 
lage, but at a hut a league distant, whither they 
had gone to make a " retreat," for prayer and med- 
itation. Their missionary labors had not been 
fruitful. They had made no converts, and were in 
despair at the intractable character of the objects 
of their zeal. As for the other Frenchmen, time, 
doubtless, hung heavy on their hands ; for nothing 
can surpass the vacant monotony of an Indian town 
when there is neither hunting, nor war, nor feasts, 
nor dances, nor gambling, to beguile the lagg-ing 
hours. 

Suddenly the village was wakened from its leth- 
argy as by the crash of a thunderbolt. A Shawanoe, 

part to a superstition. The Mianiis and Piankisliaws were in close afllni- 
ties of language and habits witJi tiie Illinois. All tliese tribes belonged lo 
the great Algonquin family. The first impressions which the French 
received of them, as recorded in the Relation of 1671, were singularly 
favorable ; but a closer acquaintance did not confirm them. The Illinois 
traded with the lake tribes, to whom they carried slaves taken in war, 
receiving in exchange, guns, hatchets, and other French goods. — Mar- 
quette in Relation, 1670, 91. 

I This is Membre's date. The narratives differ as to the da}', though 
all agree as to the month. 



208 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680. 

lately here on a visit, had left his Illinois friends to 
return home. He now reappeared, crossing the 
river in hot haste with the announcement that he 
had met, on his way, an army of Iroquois approach- 
ing to attack them. All was panic and confusion. 
The lodges disgorged their frightened inmates ; 
women and children screamed, startled warriors 
snatched their weapons. There were less than five 
hundred of them, for the greater part of the young 
men had gone to war. A crowd of excited savages 
thronged about Tonty and his Frenchmen, already 
objects of their suspicion, charging them, with 
furious gesticulation, with having stirred up their 
enemies to invade them. Tonty defended himself 
in broken Illinois, but the naked mob were but half 
convinced. They seized the forge and tools and 
flung them into the river, with all the goods that 
had been saved from the deserters ; then, distrusting 
their power to defend themselves, they manned the 
wooden canoes which lay in multitudes by the bank, 
embarked their women and children, and paddled 
down the stream to that island of dry land in the 
midst of marshes which La Salle afterwards found 
filled with their deserted huts. Sixty warriors re- 
mained here to guard them, and the rest returned 
to the village. All night long fires blazed along 
the shore. The excited warriors greased their 
bodies, painted their faces, befeathered their heads, 
sang their war-songs, danced, stamped, yelled, and 
brandished their hatchets, to work up their courage 
to face the crisis. The morning came, and with it 
came the Iroquois. 



1680.J THE PERIL OF TONTY. 209 

Young warriors had gone out as scouts, and now 
they returned. They had seen the enemy m the 
line of forest that bordered the lliver Aramoni, or 
Vermilion, and had stealthily reconnoitred them. 
They were very numerous,^ and armed for the most 
part with guns, pistols, and swords. Some had 
bucklers of wood or raw hide, and some wore those 
corselets of tough twigs interwoven with cordage 
which their fathers had used when firearms were 
unknown. The scouts added more, for they de- 
clared that they had seen a Jesuit among the Iro 
quois ; nay, that La Salle himself was there, whence 
it must follow that Tonty and his men were enemies 
and traitors. The supposed Jesuit was but an Iro- 
quois chief arrayed in a black hat, doublet, and 
stockings ; while another, equipped after a somewhat 
similar fashion, passed in the distance for La Salle. 
But the Illinois were furious. Tonty 's life hung by 
a hair. A crowd of savages surrounded him, mad 
with rage and terror. He had come lately from 
Europe, and knew little of Indians ; but, as the friar 
Membre says of him, " he was full of intelligence 
and courage," and when they heard him declare 
that he and his Frenchmen would go with them to 
fight the Iroquois, their threats grew less clamorous 
and their eyes glittered with a less deadly lustre. 

Whooping and screeching, they ran to their 
canoes, crossed the river, climbed the woody hill, 



1 The Relation ties D€couvertes says, five hundred Iroquois and one hun- 
dred Sliawanoes. Mcnibrc says that the allies were Mianiis. He is no 
doubt right, as tlie Miainis had promised their aid, and the Sliawanoes 
were at peace with the Illinois. Tonty is silent on the point. 

18* 



210 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. 11680. 

and swarmed down upon the plain beyond. About 
a hundred of them had guns ; the rest were armed 
with bows and arrows. They were now face to 
face with the enemy, who had emerged from the 
woods of the VermiUon, and was advancing on 
the open prairie. With unwonted spirit, for their 
repute as warriors was by no means high, the Illi- 
nois began, after their fashion, to charge ; that is, 
they leaped, yelled, and shot oif bullets and arrows, 
advancing as they did so ; while the Iroquois replied 
with gymnastics no less agile, and bowlings no less 
terrific, mingled with the rapid clatter of their guns. 
Tonty saw that it would go hard with his allies. 
It was of the last moment to stop the figlit if- 
possible. The Iroquois were, or professed to be, 
at peace with the French ; and taking counsel of 
his courage, he resolved on an attempt to mediate, 
wliich may well be called a desperate one. He 
laid aside his gun, took in his hand a wampum 
belt as a flag of trace, and walked forward to meet 
the savage multitude, attended by Boisrondct, an- 
other Frenchman, and a young Illinois who had 
the hardihood ,to accompany him. The guns of 
the Iroquois still flashed thick and fast. Some 
of them were aimed at him, on which he sent back 
the two Frenchmen and the Illinois, and advanced 
alone, holding out the wampum bclt.^ A moment 

' Mombre says that he went with Tonty, " J'ctois aussi u cute du 
Sieur de Tonty." This is an invention of tlie friar's vanity. " Les deux 
peres Recollets ctoient alors dans une cabane li one lieue du village, oil 
ils s'o'toient retires pour faire une espeee de retraite, et ils ne furent 
avertis de Tarrivce des Iroquois que dans le temps du combat." — 
Relation cles De'couvertes, MS. "Je rencontrai en cliemin les pcres Ga- 
briel et Zcnobe Membrc, qui cherchoieut de nies nouvelles." — Totitv 



1680.] TONTY'S MEDIATION. 211 

more, and he was among the infimated warriors 
It was a frightful spectacle : the contorted forms, 
bounding, crouching, twisting, to deal or dodge the 
shot ; the small keen eyes that shone like an angry 
snake's ; the parted lips pealing their fiendish yells ; 
the painted features writhing with fear and fury, 
and every passion of an Indian fight ; man, wolf, and 
devil, all in one.* With his swarthy complexion, 
and his half-savage dress, they thought he was an 
Indian, and thronged about him, glaring murder. 
A young warrior stabbed at his heart with a knife, 
but the point glanced aside against a rib, inflicting 
only a deep gash. A chief called out that, as his 
ears were not pierced, he must be a Frenchman. 
On this, some of them tried to stop the bleeding, 
and led him to the rear, where an angry parley 
ensued, while the yells and firing still resounded 
in the front. Tonty, breathless, and bleeding at the 
mouth with the force of the blow he had received, 
found words to declare that the Illinois were under 
the protection of the king, and the Governor of 

Me'moire, !MS. This was on liis return from the Iroqnois. Tlie Relation 
couiirnis the statement, as far as concerns Jlembre: " II rcncontra le Pore 
Zenohc (Mcnibrc), qui veiioit pour le secourir, aiant c'te' averti du com- 
bat et de sa biessure." 

The perverted Dernicres De'couveries, published without authority, 
under Tonty's name, saj-s that he was attended by a slave whom the 
Illinois sent with him as interpreter. Though this is not nientior.eil in 
the three authentic narratives, it is more than probable, as Tonty could 
not have known Iroquois enough to make himself understood. 

' Being once in an encampment of Sioux, when a quarrel broke out, 
and the adverse factions raised the war-whoop, and began to fire at each 
other, I had a good, thougli for the moment, a rather dangerous oppor- 
tunity of seeing the demeanor of Indians at the beginning of a fight. 
The fray was quelled before nuich mischief was done, by the vigorous 
iutervention of the elder warriors, who ran between the combatants. 



212 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680 

Canada, and to demand that they should be left in 
peace.' 

A young Iroquois snatched Tonty's hat, placed it 
on the end of his gun, and displayed it to the IIH- 
nois, who, thereupon, thinking he was killed, re- 
newed the fight; and the firing in front breezed 
up more angrily than before. A warrior ran in, 
cr}ing out that the Iroquois were giving ground, 
and that there were Frenchmen among the Illinois 
who fired at them. On this, the clamor around 
Tonty was redoubled. Some wished to kill him at 
once : others resisted. Several times, he felt a 
hand at the back of his head, lifting up his hair, 
;ind, turning, saw a savage with a knife^ standing as 
if ready to scalp him.^ A Seneca chief demanded 
that he should be burned. An Onondaga chief, 
a friend of La Salle, was for setting him free. The 
dispute grew fierce and hot. Tonty told them that 
the Illinois were twelve hundred strong, and that 
sixty Frenchmen were at the village, ready to back 
them. This invention, though not fully believed, 
had no little effect. The friendly Onondaga carried 
his point ; and the Iroquois, having failed to sur- 
prise their enemies as they had hoped, now saw an 
opportunity to delude them by a truce. They sent 

1 " Je leur fis connoistre que les Islinois c'toient sous la protection du 
roy de France et du gouverneur du pays, que j'estois surpris qu'ils vou- 
lussent ronipre aA-ec les Francois et qu'ils voulussent atlendre (sic) h une 
paix." — Tonty, M^molre, MS. 

2 " II en avoit un derriere moi qui tenoit un couteau dans sa main, et 
qui de temps en temps me levoit les cheveux." — Tonty, Mtfmoire, MS. 
The Dernieres Ddcouvertes adds, " Je me retournai vers lui et je vis bien 
ii sa contenance ettk sa mine que son dessein e'toit de ni'enlever la die- 
velure . . . je le priai de vouloir du moins se donner un peu de patience, 
et d'attendre que ses Maitres eussent decide de mon sort." 



1680.] RETREAT OF THE ILLINOIS. 2V6 

back Tonty Avith a belt of peace ; he held it aloft 
in sight of the Illinois ; chiefs and old warriors ran 
to stop the fight ; the yells and the firing ceased, 
and Tonty, like one waked from a hideous night- 
mare, dizzy, almost fainting with loss of blood, 
staggered across the intervening prairie to rejoin 
his friends. He was met by the two friars, Ribourde 
and Membre, who, in their secluded hut a league 
from the village, had but lately heard of what was 
passing, and who now, with benedictions and thanks- 
giving, ran to embrace him as a man escaped from 
the jaws of death. 

The lUmois now withdrew, re-embarking in their 
canoes, and crossing again to their lodges ; but 
scarcely had they reached them, when their ene- 
mies appeared at the edge of the forest on the 
opposite bank. Many found means to cross, and, 
under the pretext of seeking for provisions, began 
to hover in bands about the skirts of the town, 
constantly increasing in numbers. Had the Illinois 
dared to remain, a massacre would doubtless have 
ensued ; but they knew their foe too well, set fire 
to their lodges, embarked in haste, and paddled 
down the stream to rejoin their women and chil- 
dren at the sanctuary among the morasses. The 
whole body of the Iroquois now crossed the river, 
took possession of the abandoned toAvn, building 
for themselves a rude redoubt, or fort, of the trunks 
of trees and of the posts and poles, forming the 
framework of the lodges which escaped the fire. 
Here they ensconced themselves, and finished the 
work of havoc at their leisure. 



214 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680, 

Tonty and his companions still occupied their 
hut ; but the Iroquois, becoming suspicious of them, 
forced tliem to remove to the fort, crowded as it was 
with the savage crew. On the second day, there 
was an alarm. The Illinois appeared in numbers 
on the low hills, half a mile behind the town ; and 
the Iroquois, who had felt their courage, and who 
had been told by Tonty that they were twice as 
numerous as themselves, showed symptoms of no 
little uneasiness. They proposed that he should 
act as mediator, to which he gladly assented, and 
crossed the meadow towards the Illinois, accom- 
panied by Membre, and by an Iroquois who was 
sent as a hostage. The Illinois hailed the over- 
tures with delight, gave the ambassadors some re- 
freshment, which they sorely needed, and sent back 
with them a young man of their nation as a hostage 
on their part. This indiscreet youth nearly proved 
the ruin of the negotiation ; for he was no sooner 
among the Iroquois than he showed such an eager- 
ness to close the treaty, made such promises, pro- 
^ fessed such gratitude, and betrayed so rashly the 
numerical weakness of the Illinois, that he revived 
all the insolence of the invaders. They turned 
furiously upon Tonty and charged him with having, 
robbed them of the glory and the spoils of victory. 
" Where are all your Illinois warriors, and where 
are the sixty Frenchmen that you said were among 
them ? " It needed all Tonty's tact and coolness to 
extricate himself from this new danger. 

The treaty was at length concluded ; but scarcely 
was it made, when the Iroquois prepared to break 



1G80,] COUNCIL. 215 

it, arid set about constructing canoes of elm-bark 
in which to attack the Illinois women and chil- 
dren in their island sanctuary. Tonty warned his 
allies that the pretended peace was but a snare for 
their destruction. The Iroquois, on their part, 
grew hourly more jealous of him, and would cer- 
tainly have killed him, had it not been their policy 
to keep the peace with Frontenac and the French. 
Several days after, they summoned him and 
Membre to a council. Six packs of beaver skin 
were brought in, and the savage orator presented 
them to Tonty in turn, explaining their meaning 
as he did so. The first two were to declare that the 
children of Count Frontenac, that is, the Illinois, 
should not be eaten ; the next was a plaster to heal 
Tonty's wound ; the next was oil wherewith to 
anoint him and Membre, that they might not be 
fatigued in travelling ; the next proclaimed that the 
sun was bright; and the sixth and last required 
them to decamp and go home.^ Tonty thanked 
them for their gifts, but demanded when they them- 
selves meant to go and leave the Illinois in peace. 
At this the conclave grew angry, and, despite their 
late pledge, some of them said that before they 
went, they would eat Illinois flesh. Tonty instantly 
kicked away the packs of beaver skin, the Indian 



• An Indian speech, it will be renicmberetl, is without validity, if not 
confirmed by presents, eacli of wliich has its special interpretation. Tlie 
meaning of tlie fifth pack of beaver, informing Tonty that the sun was 
bright, — " que le soleil c'toit beau," that is, that tl;e weatlier was favorable 
for travelling, — is curiously misconceived by the editor of the Dcrnieres 
De'converles, who imi)roves upon his original by substituting the words 
" par le cinquieme paquet ils nous exhortoient a adorer le Soleil." 



216 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. 11680 

symbol of the scornful rejection of a proposal ; 
telling them that since they meant to eat the Gover- 
nor's children, he would have none of their presents. 
The chiefs, in a rage, rose and drove him from the 
lodge. The French withdrew to their hut, where 
thoy stood all night on the watch, expecting an at- 
tack, and resolved to sell their lives dearly. At 
daybreak, the chiefs ordered them to begone. 

Tonty, with an admirable fidelity and courage, 
had done all in the power of man to protect the 
allies of Canada against their ferocious assailants ; 
and he thought it unwise to persist farther in a 
course which could lead to no good, and which 
would probably end in the destruction of the whole 
party. He embarked in a leaky canoe with Mem- 
bre, Ribourde, Boisrondet, and the remaining two 
men, and began to ascend the river. After paddling 
about five leagues, they landed to dry their baggage 
and repair their crazy vessel, when Father Ribourde, 
breviary in hand, strolled across the sunny meadows 
for an hour of meditation among the neighboring 
groves. Evening approached, and he did not return. 
Tonty with one of the men went to look for him, 
and, following his tracks, presently discovered those 
of a band of Indians, who had apparently seized or 
murdered him. Still, they did not despair. The^ 
fired their guns to guide him, should he still be 
alive ; built a huge fire by the bank, and, then cross- 
ing the river, lay watching it from the other side. 
At midnight, they saw the figure of a man hovering 
around the blaze ; then many more appeared, but 
Kibourde was not among them. In truth, a band 



1680-1 WAR UrON THE DEAD. 217 

of Kickapoos, enemies of the Iroquois, about whose 
camp they had been prowhng in quest of scalps, 
had met and wantonly murdered the inoffensive old 
man. They carried his scalp to their village, and 
danced around it in triumph, pretending to have 
taken it from an enemy. Thus, in his sixty- fifth 
year, the only heir of a wealthy Burgundian house 
perished under the war-clubs of the savages, for 
whose salvation he had renounced station, ease, and 
affluence.' 

Meanwhile, a hideous scene was enacted at the 
ruined village of the Illinois. Their savage foes, 
balked of a living prey, wreaked their fury on the 
dead. They dug up the graves ; they threw down 
the scaffolds. Some of the bodies they burned ; 
some they threw to the dogs ; some, it is affirmed, 
they ate.^ Placing the skulls on stakes as trophies, 
they turned to pursue the Illinois, who, Avhen the 
French withdrew, had abandoned their asylum and 
retreated down the river. The Iroquois, still, it 
seems, in awe of them, followed them along the 
opposite bank, each night encamping face to face 
with them ; and thus the adverse bands moA^ed slowly 
southward, till they were near the mouth of the 

1 Tonty, M<finoire, MS. Membrc in Le Clorcq, ii. 191. Hennepin, 
who lialod Tonty, unjustly charges him witli having abaniloneil the search 
too soon, ailmitting, however, tliat it would liave been useless to coriiuue 
it. This part of his narrative is a perversion of Menibrd's account. 

2 " Cepcndant les Iroquois, aussitut apros le depart du S''- de Tonty, 
exercorent leur rage sur les corps niorts des Ilinois, qu'ils dcterrerent ou 
abbattcrent de dessus les cchafauds ou les Ihnois les laisscnt longtenips 
exposc's avant que de les niettro en terre. lis en brulerent la plus grande 
partie, ils en mangerent nieme quelques uns, et jetterent le rostc aux 
chicns. lis planterent les tetcs de cos cadavres a. deiui dc'charnL-s sur des 
pifcux," etc — Relation des De'coaveiles, JIS. 

19 



218 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680. 

river. Hitherto, the compact array of the Illinois 
had held their enemies in check ; but now, suffering 
from hunger, and hilled into security by the assur- 
ances of the Iroquois that their object was not to 
destroy them, but only to drive them from the 
country, they rashly separated into then- several 
tribes. Some descended the Mississippi ; some, 
more prudent, crossed to the western side. One of 
their principal tribes, the Tamaroas, more credulous 
than the rest, had the fatuity to remain near the 
mouth of the Illinois, where they were speedily as- 
sailed by all the force of the Iroquois. The men 
fled, and very few of them were killed; but the 
women and children were captured to the number, 
it is said, of seven hundred.^ Then followed that 
scene of torture, of which, some two weeks later. 
La Salle saw the revolting traces. ~ Sated, at length, 
with horrors, the conquerors withdrew, leading with 
them a host of captives, and exulting in their tri- 
umphs over women, children, and the dead. 

After the death of Father llibourde, Tonty and 
his companions remained searching for him till 
noon of the next day, and then, in despair of again 
seeing him, resumed their journey. They ascended 
the river, leaving no token of their passage at the 
junction of its northern and southern branches. 



Relation des Difconvcrlcs, IMS. Frontenac to the King, N.Y. Col. 
Docs., ix. 147. A memoir of Ducliesiioau makes the number twelve hun- 
dred. 

- " lis [los Illinois] trouviirent dans leiir campement des carcasses de 
leurs ont'ans que cos anthropophages avoiont mangez, ne voulant mume 
d'aiilrc nouiriture que la chair de ces infortunez." — La Potherie, ii. 145, 
1J.G. Compare »ole, ante, p. I'JO. 



1680.] ESCAPE OF TONTY. 219 

For food, they gathered acorns and dug roots in the 
meadows. Then* canoe proved utterly worthless ; 
and, feehle as they were, they set out on foot for 
Lake Michigan. Boisrondet wandered off, and was 
lost. He had dropped the flint of his gun, and he 
had no bullets ; but he cut a pewter porringer into 
slugs with which he shot wild turkeys, by discharging 
his piece with a firebrand ; and after several days 
he had the good fortune to rejoin the party. Their 
object was to reach the Pottawattamies of Green 
Bay. Had they aime*d at Michillimackinac, they 
would have found an asylum with La Forest at the 
fort on the St. Joseph ; but unhappily they passed 
westward of that post, and, by way of Chicago, fol- 
lowed the borders of Lake Michigan northward. 
The cold was intense, and they had much ado to 
grub up wild onions from the frozen ground to save 
themselves from starving. Tonty fell ill of a fever 
and a swelling of the limbs, which disabled him 
from travelling, and hence ensued a long delay. At 
length they neared Green Bay, wdiere they would 
have starved had they not gleaned a few ears of 
corn and frozen squashes in the fields of an empty 
Lidian town. It was the end of November before 
they found the Pottawattamies, and were warmly 
greeted by their chief, who had befriended La Salle 
the year before, and who, in his enthusiasm for the 
French, Avas wont to say that he knew but three 
great captains in the world, Frontenac, La Salle, 
and himself.^ 

1 Memhrd, in Le Clercq, ii. 199. Of tho three, or rather four nar- 
ratives, ou which this chapter mainly rests, tlie hest is that contaiiieil in 



22U TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680. 

While Tonty rests at Green Bay, and La Salle at 
the fort on the St. Joseph, we will leave them for a 
time to trace the strange adventures of the errant 
friar, Father Louis Hennepin. 

the manuscript of 1681, entitled the Relation des D^couvertes. This portion 
of it, which hears every evidence of accuracy, was certainly supplied by 
Tonty liimself or one of liis companions. Tlie Mc'nwire of Tonty is wiioily 
distinct. It is a modest and simple statement, of whicli the chief fault is 
Its brevity. He undoubtedly wrote another and more detailed narrative, 
which h.is been used by the editor of the Demieres De'couveites, printed 
with Tonty's name. The editor seems to have taken less liberties witli 
his original in this part of the book than in many others. The narrative 
of Mcmbrc sustains that of Tonty, except in one or two unimportant 
points, where the writer's vanity seems to have gained the better of his 
veracity. 



THE ILLINOIS TOWN. 221 



THE ILLINOIS TOWN. 

The Site of the Great Illinois Town. — This has not till now 
been determined, though there have heen various conjectures concerning 
it. From a study of the contemporary documents and maps, I becamo 
satisfied, first, that the branch of the River Illinois, called the " Big Ver- 
milion," was the Aramoni of the French explorers ; and, secondly, that th(» 
clift" called " Starved Rock" was that known to the French as Le Rocher, 
or the Rock of St. Louis. If I was riglit in this conclusion, then the 
position of the Great Village was established ; for there is abundant proof 
that it was on tlie north side of the river, above the Aramoni, and below 
Le Rocher. I accordingly went to the village of Utica, which, as I 
judged by the map, was very near the point in question, and mounted to 
the top of one of the hills immediately behind it, whence I could see the 
valley of the Illinois for miles, bounded on the farther side by a range of 
hills, in some parts rocky and precipitous, and in others covered with 
forests. Far on the right, was a gap in these hills, through which the Big 
Vermilion flowed to join the Illinois ; and somewhat towards the left, at 
the distance of a mile and a half, was a huge cliff, rising perpendicularly 
from the opposite margin of the river. This I assumed to be Le Rocher 
i)f the French, tliough from wliere I stood I was unable to discern the dis- 
tinctive features which I was prepared to find in it. In every other re- 
spect, the scene before me was precisely what I had expected to see. 
There was a meadow on the hither side of the river, on which stood a 
farm-house'; and this, as it seemed to me, hy its relations with surrounding 
objects, might be supposed to stand in the midst of the space once occu- 
pied by tiie Illinois town. 

On the way down from the hill, I met Mr. James Clark, the principal 
inhabitant of Utica, and one of the earliest settlers of this region. 1 
accosted him, told him my objects, and requested a half hour's conversa- 
tion with him, at his leisure. He seemed interested in the inquiry, and 
aaid he would visit me early in the evening at the inn, where, accordingly, 
he soon appeared. The conversation took place in the porch, where a 
number of farmers and others were gathered. I asked Mr. Clark if any 
Indian remains were found in the neighborhood. " Yes," he replied, 
" plenty of them." I then inquired if there was any one spot where they 
were more numerous than elsewhere. " Yes," he answered again, point- 
ing towards the farm-house on the meadow : " on my farm down yonder 
by the river, my tenant ploughs up teeth and bones by the peck every 
spring, besides arrow-heads, beads, stone hatchets, and other things of 
that sort." I replied that this was precisely what I had expected, as I had 
been led to believe that the principal town of the Illinois Indians once 
covered that very spot. " If," I added, " I am right in this belief, the 

19* 



222 THE ILLINOIS TOWN. 



great rock beyonrl tlie river 18 the one which the first explorers occupied 
as a fort, and I can describe it to you from their accounts of it, thougli I 
have never seen it except from the top of the liill where the trees on and 
around it prevented me from seeing any part but tlie front." The men 
present now gatliered around to listen. " Tiie rock," I continued, " is 
nearly a hundred and fifty feet high, and rises directly from the water. 
The f^'ont an(>l two sides are perpendicular and inaccessible, but there is 
one place where it is possible for a man to climb up, though with diffi- 
culty. The top is large enough and level enough for liouscs and fortifica- 
tions." Here several of the men exclaimed, " That's just it." "You've 
hit it exactly." I then asked if there was any other rock on that side 
of the river which could answer to the description. They all agreed that 
there was no such rock on either side, along the whole length of the river. 
I tlien said, " If the Indian town was in the place where I suppose it to 
have been, I can tell you the nature of tlie country which lies behind the 
hills on the farther side of the river, thougli I know nothing about it ex- 
cept what I have learned from writings nearly two centuries old. From 
the top of the hills you look out upon a great prairie reaching as far as 
you can see, except that it is crossed by a belt of woods following the 
course of a stream which enters the main river a few miles below." (See 
ante, -p. 20H, note.) "You are exactly riglit again," replied Mr. Clark, 
" we call that belt of timber tlie ' Vermilion Woods,' and the stream is 
the Big Vermilion." "Then," I said, "the Big Vermilion is the river 
which the French called the Aramoni : 'Starved Rock' is the same on 
which they built a fort called St. Louis, in the year 1G82 ; and your farm 
is on the site of the great town of the Illinois." 

I spent the next day in examining these localities, and was fully con- 
firmed in my conclusions. Mr. Clark's tenant showed me the spot where 
tiie human bones were ploughed up. It was no doubt the graveyard 
violated by the Iroquois. The Illinois returned to the village after their 
defeat, and long continued to occupy it. The scattered bones were prob- 
ably collected and restored to their place of burial. 



CHAPTER XYlll. 

1680. 
THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. 

ITexxkpin an Ijipostor. — His Pisetended Discoa'ery. — ITis Actual 
DiscovEUY. — Cai'tuked by the Sioux. — Tjie Uiter Mississu'i'i. 

It was on the last day of the winter that preceded 
the invasion of the Iroquois, that Father Hennepin, 
with his two companions, Accau and Du Gay, had 
set out from Fort Crcvecocur to explore the Illinois 
to its mouth. It appears from his own later state- 
ments, as well as from those of Tonty, that more 
than this was expected of him, and that La Salle 
had instructed him to explore, not alone the Illinois, 
but also the Upper Mississippi. That he actually 
did so, there is no reasonable doubt ; and, could he 
have contented himself with tellins: the truth, his 
name would have stood high as a bold and vigorous 
discoverer. But his vicious attempts to malign liis 
commander, and plunder him of his laurels, have 
wrapped his genuine merit in a cloud. 

Hennepin's fii'st book Avas published soon after 
his return from his travels, and while La Salle was 
still alive. In it, he relates the accomplishment of 
the instructions given him, without the smallest 



224 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1680. 

intimation that he did more.' Fourteen years after, 
when La Salle was dead, he published another 
edition of his travels,* in which he advanced a new 
and surprising pretension. Reasons connected with 
Jiis personal safety, he declares, before compelled 
liim to remain silent ; but a time at length has 
come when the truth must be revealed. And he 
proceeds to affirm that, before ascending the Missis- 
sippi, he, with his two men, explored its whole 
course from the Illinois to the sea, thus anticipating 
the discovery which forms the crowning laui'el of 
La Salle. 

" I am resolved," he says, " to make known here 
to the whole world the mystery of this discovery, 
which I have hitherto concealed, that I might not 
offend the Sieur de la Salle, who wished to keep 
all the glory and all the knowledge of it to himself. 
It is for this that he saciificed many persons whose 
lives he exposed, to prevent them from making 
knoAvn what they had seen, and thereby crossing 
his secret plans. ... I was certain that if I went 
down the Mississippi, he would not fail to traduce 
me to my superiors for not taking the northern 
route, which I was to have followed in accordance 
with his desire and the plan we had made together. 
But I saw myself on the point of dying of hunger, 
and knew not what to do ; because the two men 
who were with mc threatened openly to leave me 
in the night, and carry off the canoe, and every 



IC97. 



1 Description de la Loiiisiane, nouvdlement d^couverte, Paris, 1G83. 

' Nouvelle Ddcouverte d'u7i tres grand Pays situif daiis l'Am€rique, Utrecht, 



1680.1 HENNEPIN AN IMPOSTOR. 225 

thing in it, if T prevented them from going down 
the river to the nations below. Finding myself in 
this dilemma, I thought that 1 ought not to hesitate, 
and that I ought to prefer my own safety to the 
violent passion which possessed the Sieur de la 
Salle of enjoying alone the glory of this discovery. 
The two men, seeing that I had made up my mind 
to follow them, promised me entire fidelity ; so, 
after we had shaken hands together as a mutual 
pledge, we set out on our voyage." ^ 

He then proceeds to recount, at length, the par- 
ticulars of his alleged exploration. The story was 
distrusted from the first.^ Why had he not told it 
before 1 An excess of modesty, a lack of self- 
assertion, or a too sensitive reluctance to wound 
the susceptibilities of ethers, had never been found 
among his foibles. Yet some, perhaps, might have 
believed him, had he not, in the first edition of his 
book, gratuitously and distinctly declared that he 
did not make the voyage in question. " We had 
some designs," he says, " of going down the River 
Colbert [Mississippi] as far as its mouth ; but the 
tribes that took us prisoners gave us no time to 
navigate this river both up and down."^ 

In declaring to the world the achievement which 
he had so long concealed and so explicitly denied, 
the vrorthy missionary found himself in serious 

1 Nouvelle D^couverte, 248, 250, 251. 

2 See the preface of the Spanish translation hy Don Sebastian Fer- 
nandez de Medrano, 1699, and also the letter of Gravier, dated 1701, in 
Shea's Early Voj/ayes on the Mississippi. Barcia, Charlevoix, Kalra, and 
otiier early writers, put a low value on Hennepin's veracity. 

3 Description de la Louisiane, 218. 



226 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPDT. [1080. 

embarrassment. In his first book, he had stated 
that, on the twelfth of March, he left the mouth of 
the Illinois on his way northward, and that, on the 
eleventh of April, he was captured by the Sioux, 
near the mouth of the Wisconsin, five hundred 
miles above. This would give him only a month 
to make his alleged canoe-voyage from the Illinois 
to the Gulf of Mexico, and again upward to the 
place of his capture, — a distance of three thousand 
two hundred and sixty miles. With his means 
of transportation, three months would have been 
insufficient.^ He saw the difficulty ; but, on the 
other hand, he saw that he could not greatly 
change either date without confusing the parts of 
his narrative which preceded and which followed. 
In this perplexity, he chose a middle course, 
which only involved him in additional contradic- 
tions. Having, as he affirms, gone down to the 
Gulf and returned to the mouth of the Illinois, 
he set out thence to explore the river above ; and 
he assigns the twenty-fourth of April as the date 
of this departure. This gives him forty-three days 
for his voyage to the mouth of the river and back. 
Looking farther, we find that, having left the Illi- 
nois on the twenty-fourth, he paddled his' canoe 
two hundred leagues northward, and was then cap- 
tured by the Sioux on the twelfth of the same 

^ La Salle, in the following year, with a far better equipment, was 
more than three months and a half in making the journey. A ^Mississippi 
trading-boat of the last generation, with sails and oars, ascending against 
the current, was thought to do remarkably well if it could make twenty 
miles a day. Hennepin, if we believe his -own statements, must have 
ascended at an average rate of sixty miles, though his canoe was large 
and heavily laden. 



1680.] HIS CLAIMS TO BELIEF. 227 

month. In short, he ensnares himself in a hope- 
less confusion of dates.' 

Here, one wonld think, is sufficient reason for 
rejecting his story ; and yet the general truth of 
the descriptions, and a certain verisimilitude which 
marks it, might easily deceive a careless reader and 
perplex a critical one. These, hoAvever, are easily 
explained. Six years before Hennepin published 
his pretended discovery, his brother friar, Father 
Chretien Le Clercq, published an account of the 
Recollet missions among the Indians, under the 
title of " Etablissement de la Foi." This book was 
suppressed by the French government ; but a few 
copies fortunately survived. One of these is now 
before me. It contains the journal of Father 
Zenobe Membre, on his descent of the Mississippi 
in 1681, in company with La Salle. The slightest 
comparison of his narrative with that of Hennepin 
is sufficient to show that the latter framed his own 
story out of incidents and descriptions furnished by 
his brother missionary, often using his very words, 
and sometimes copying entire pages, Avith no other 
alterations than such as Avere necessary to make 
himself, instead of La Salle and his companions, 
the hero of the exploit. The records of literary 

1 Hennepin here falls into gratuitous inconsistencies. In the edition 
of 1C'J7, in order to gain a little time, he says that he left the Illinois on 
his voyage southward on the eighth of March, 1G80 ; and yet, in the pre- 
ceding chapter, he repeats the statement of the first edition, that he was 
detained at the Illinois by floating ice till the twelfth. Again, he says in 
the first edition, that he was captured by the Sioux on the eleventh of 
April ; and in the edition of lG!t7, he changes this date to the twelfth, 
without gaining any advantage by doing so. 



228 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1680. 

piracy may be searched in vain for an act of depre- 
dation more recklessly impudent.^ 

Such being the case, what faith can we put in 
the rest of Hennepin's story? Fortunately, there 
are tests by which the earlier parts of his book can 
be tried ; and, on the whole, they square exceed- 
ingly well with contemporary records of undoubted 
authenticity. Bating his exaggerations respecting 
the Falls of Niagara, his local descriptions, and 
even his estimates of distance, are generally accu- 
rate. He constantly, it is true, magnifies his own 
acts, and thrusts himself forward as one of the 
chiefs of an enterprise, to the costs of which he 
had contributed nothing, and to which he was 
merely an appendage ; and yet, till he reaches the 
Mississippi, there can be no doubt that, in the 
main, he tells the truth. As for his ascent of that 

1 Hennepin may hare copied from the unpublished journal of Membr^, 
which the latter had placed in the hands of his superior, or lie may have 
compiled from Le Clercq's book, relying on the suppression of the edition 
to prevent detection. He certainly saw and used it, for he elsewhere bor- 
rows the exact words of the editor. He is so careless that he steals from 
Menibre passages which he might easily have written for himself, as, for 
example, a description of the opossum and another of the cougar, animals 
with which he was acquainted. Compare the following pages of the 
NonveJle D^ouverte witli tlie corresponding pages of Le Clercq : Hen- 
nepin, 252, Le Clercq, ii. 217 ; H. 253, Le C. ii. 218 ; H. 257, Le C. ii 
221 ; H. 259, Le C. ii. 224 ; H. 262, Le C. ii. 226 ; H. 265, Le C. ii. 229 ; 
H. 267, Le C. ii. 233 ; H. 270, Le C. ii. 285 ; H. 280, Le C. ii. 240 ; H. 
295, Le C. ii. 249 ; H. 296, Le C. ii. 250; H. 297, Le C. ii. 253 ; H. 299, 
Le C. ii. 254 ; H. 801, Le C. ii. 257. Some of these parallel passages will 
be found in Sparks's Life of La Salle, where this remarkable fraud was 
first fully exposed. In Shea's Discovery of the Mississippi, there is an 
excellent critical examination of Hennepin's works. His plagiarisms 
from Le Clercq are not confined to the passages cited above ; for, in^ his 
later editions, he stole largely firom other parts of the suppressed Etab- 
lissement de la Foi. 



1680.J HIS VOYAGE NORTHWARD. 229 

river to the country of the Sioux, the general state- 
ment is fully confirmed by alhisions of Tonty, and 
other contemporary writers.^ For the details of 
the journey, we must rest on Hennepin alone ; 
whose account of the country, and of the peculiar 
traits of its Indian occupants, afford, as far as they 
go, good evidence of truth. Indeed,' this part of 
his narrative could only have been written by one 
well versed in the savage life of this north-western 
region.^ Trusting, then, to his guidance in the 

1 It is certain that persons liaving the best means of information be- 
lieved at the time in Hennepin's story of his journeys on tlie Upper Mis- 
sissippi. The compiler of the Rdaiioii des Deiouvertes, who was in close 
relations with La Salle and those who acted with him, does not intimate a 
doubt of tlie truth of the report whicli Hennepin, on his return, gave to 
the Provincial Commissary of his Order, and which is in substance the 
same whicli he published two years later. The Relation, it is to be ob- 
served, was written only a lew months after the return of Hennepin, and 
embodies the pith of his narrative of the Upper Mississippi, no part of 
which had then been published. 

■■^ In this connection, it is well to examine the various Sioux words 
which Hennepin uses incidentally, and which he must have acquired by 
personal intercourse with tlie tribe, as no Frenchman then understood the 
language. These words, as far as my information reaches, are in every 
instance correct. Thus, lie says that the Sioux called his breviary a 
"bad spirit" — Ouackanrh^. Wakanshe, or Wakanshecha, wo\i\d express 
the same meaning in modern English spelling. He says elsewhere that 
they called the guns of his companions M<uizaoHachinch€, which he trans- 
lates, " iron possessed with a bad spirit." The western Sioux to this 
day call a gun Manzawakan, " metal possessed with a spirit." Chonya 
(shonka), "a dog," Oiiasi (wahsee), "a pine-tree," Chinnen (shinnan), "a 
robe," or " garment," and other words, are given correctly, with their 
interpretations. The word Louis, affirmed by Hennepin to mean " the 
Bun," seems at first sight a wilful inaccuracy, as this is not the word used 
in general by the Sioux. The Yankton band of this people, however, 
call the sun oouee, which, it is evident, represents the French pronuncia- 
tion of Louis, omitting the initial letter. This, Hennepin would be apt 
enough to stipply, thereby conferring a compliment alike on himself, 
Louis Hennepin, and on the King, Louis XIV., who, to the indignation 
of his brother niDnarchs, had chosen tlie sun as his emblem. 

A variety of trivial incidents touched upon by Hennepin, while re- 
20 



230 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1G8(X 

absence of better, let us follow in the wake of his 
adventurous canoe. 

It was laden deeply with goods belonging to La 
Salle, and meant by him as presents to Indians on 
the way, though the travellers, it appears, proposed 
to use them in trading on their own account. The 
friar was still wrapped in his gray capote and hood, 
shod with sandals, and decorated with the cord of 
St. Francis. As for his two companions, Accau^ 
and Du Gay, it is tolerably clear that the former 
was the real leader of the party, though Hennepin, 
after his custom, thrusts himself into the foremost 
place. Both were somewhat above the station of 
ordinary hired hands ; and Du Gay had an uncle 
who was an ecclesiastic of good credit at Amiens, 
"his native place. 

In the forests that overhung the river, the buds 
were feebly swelling with advancing spring. There 
was game enough. They killed buffalo, deer, 
beavers, wild turkeys, and now and then a bear 
swimming in the river. With these, and the fish 
which they caught in abundance, they fared sump- 
tuously, though it was the season of Lent. They 
were exemplary, however, at their devotions. Hen- 
nepin said prayers at morning and night, and the 
angelus at noon, adding a petition to St. Anthony 
of Padua, that he would save them from the peril 

counting his life among the Sioux, seem to me to afford a strong pre- 
sumption of an actual experience. I speak on this point witli the more 
confidence, as tlie Indians in wliose lodges I was once domesticated for 
several weeks, belonged to a western band of the same people. 

1 Called Ako by Hennepin. In contemporary documents it is writte'tt 
Accau, Acau, D'Accau, Dacau. Dacan, and d'Accault. 



1G80.] CAPTURED BY THE SIOUX. 231 

that beset their way. In truth, there was a lion in 
the path. The ferocious character of the Sioux, 
or Dacotah, who occupied the region of the Upper 
Mississippi, was ah-eady known to the French ; and 
Hennepin, not without reason, prayed that it might 
be his fortune to meet them, not by night, but by 
day. 

On the eleventh or twelfth of April, they stopped 
m the afternoon to repair theu' canoe ; and Henne- 
pm busied himself in daubing it with pitch, while 
the others cooked a turkey. Suddenly a fleet of 
Sioux canoes swept into sight, bearing a war-party 
of a hundred and twenty naked savages, who, on 
seeing the travellers, raised a hideous clamor ; and 
some leaping ashore and others into the water, they 
surrounded the astonished Frenchmen in an instant.' 
Hennepin held out the peace-pipe, but one of them 
snatched it from him. Next, he hastened to proffer 
a gift of Martinique tobacco, which was better re- 
ceived. Some of the old warriors repeated the 
name Jllamiha, giving him to understand that they 
were a war-party on the way to attack the Miamis ; 
on which Hennepin, with the help of signs and of 
marks which he drew on the sand with a stick, 
explained that the Miamis had gone across the 
Mississippi beyond their reach. Hereupon, he says 
that three or four old men placed their hands on 
his head, and began a dismal wailing ; while he 
with his handkerchief wiped away their tears 

1 The edition of 1083 says tliat there were tliirty-lliree canoes : that 
of 1G97 raises the number to lifty. Tlie mnuber of Indians is the same 
in both. Tie later narrative is more in detail tlian the former. 



232 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1680. 

in order to evince sympathy with their affliction, 
from whatever cause arising. Notwithstanding 
this demonstration of tenderness, they refused to 
smoke with him in his peace-pipe, and forced him 
and his companions to embark and paddle across 
the river ; while they all followed behind, uttering 
yells and bowlings which froze the missionary's 
blood. 

On leaching the farther side, they made their 
camp-fires, and allowed their prisoners to do the 
same. Accau and Du Gay slung their kettle ; while 
Hennepin, to propitiate the Sioux, carried to them 
two turkeys, of which there were several in the 
canoe. The warriors had seated themselves in 
a ring, to debate on the fate of the Frenchmen ; 
and two chiefs presently explained to the friar, by 
significant signs, that it had been resolved that 
his head should be split with a war-club. This 
produced the effect which was no doubt intended. 
Hennepin ran to the canoe, and quickly returned 
with one of the men, both loaded with presents, 
which he threw into the midst of the assembly ; 
and then, bowing his head, off"ered them at the 
same time a hatchet with which to kill him if they 
wished to do so. His gifts and his submission 
seemed to appease them. They gave him and his 
companions a dish of beaver's flesh ; but, to his great 
concern, they returned his peace-pipe, an act which 
he interpreted as a sign of danger. That night, 
the Frenchmen slept little, expecting to be murdered 
oefore morning. There was, in fact, a great divi- 
sion of opinion among the Sioux. Some were for 



1C80.1 SUSrECTED OF SORCERY. 233 

killing them, and taking their goods ; while others, 
eager above all things that French traders should 
come among them with the knives, hatchets, and 
guns of which they had heard the value, contended 
that it would be impolitic to discourage the trade 
by putting to death its pioneers. 

Scarcely had morning dawned on the anxious 
captives, when a young chief, naked, and painted 
from head to foot, appeared before them, and asked 
for the pipe, which the friar gladly gave him. He 
filled it, smoked it, made the warriors do the same, 
and, having given this hopeful pledge of amity, told 
the Frenchmen that, since the Miamis were out of 
reach, the war-party would return home, and that 
they must accompany them. To this Hennepin 
gladly agreed, having, as he declares, his great 
work of exploration so much at heart that he 
rejoiced in the prospect of achieving it even in 
their company. 

He soon, however, had a foretaste of the afflic- 
tion in store for him ; for, Avhen he opened his 
breviary and began to mutter his morning devotion, 
his new companions gathered about him with faces 
that betrayed their superstitious terror, and gave 
him to understand that his book was a bad spirit 
with which he must hold no more converse. They 
thought, indeed, that he was muttering a charm for 
their destruction. Accau and Du Gay, conscious 
of the danger, begged the friar to dispense with 
his devotions, lest he and they alike should be 
tomahawked ; but Hennepin says that his sense of 
duty rose superior to his fears, and that he was 

20* 



234 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1680. 

resolved to repeat his office at all hazards, though 
not until he had asked pardon of his two friends 
for thus imperilling their lives. Fortunately, he 
presently discovered a device by which his devotion 
and his prudence were completely reconciled. He 
ceased the muttering which had alarmed the In- 
dians, and, with the breviary open on his knees, 
sang the service in loud and cheerful tones. As 
this had no savor of sorcery, and as they now 
imagined that the book was teaching its oAvner to 
sing for their amusement, they conceived a favor- 
able opinion of both alike. 

These Sioux, it may be observed, were the an- 
cestors of those who committed the horrible but 
not unprovoked massacres of 1863, in the valley 
of the St. Peter. Hennepin complains bitterly of 
their treatment of him, which, however, seems to 
have been tolerably good. Afraid that he would 
lag behind, as his canoe was heavy and slow,' they 
placed several warriors in it, to aid him and his 
men in paddling. They kept on their way from 
morning till night, building huts for their bivouac 
when it rained, and sleeping on the open ground 
■sA'hen the weather was fair, which, says Hennepin, 
"• gave us a good opportunity to contemplate the 
moon and stars." The three Frenchmen took the 
precaution of sleeping at the side of the young 
chief who had been the fii'st to smoke the peace- 
pipe, and who seemed inclined to befriend them ; 

1 And 3'et it had, by his account, made a distance of tliirtecn hundred 
and eighty miles from tlie mouth of the Mississippi upward in twenty -four 
days. 



1680. j THE C^VPTIVE FRIAR. 235 

but there was another chief, one Aquipaguetin, a 
crafty old savage, who, having lost a son in war 
with the Miamis, was angry that the party had 
abandoned their expedition, and thus deprived him 
of his revenge. He therefore kept up a dismal 
lament through half the night ; while other old men, 
crouching over Hennepin as he lay trying to sleep, 
stroked him with their hands, and uttered wailings 
so lugubrious that he was forced to the belief that 
he had been doomed to death, and that they were 
charitably bemoaning his fate.^ 

One night, they Avere, for some reason, unable to 
bivouac near their protector, and were forced to make 
their ike at the end of the camp. Here they were 
soon beset by a crowd of Indians, who told them 
that Aquipaguetin had at length resolved to toma- 
hawk them. The malcontents were gathered in a 
knot at a little distance, and Hennepm hastened to 
appease them by another gift of knives and tobacco. 
This was but one of the devices of the old chief 
to deprive them of their goods . without robbing 
them outright. He had with him the bones of a 
deceased relative, which he was carrying home 
wrapped in skins prepared with smoke after the 
Indian fashion, and gayly decorated with bands of 
dyed porcupine quills. He would summon his war- 
riors, and, placing these relics in the midst of the 

1 This weeping and wailing over Hennepin once seemed to me an 
anomaly iu his account of Sioux manners, as I am not aware that such 
practices are to be found among them at present. They are mentioned, 
however, by other early writers. Le Sueur, who was among tliom in 
1699-1700, was wept over no less than Hennepin. See the abstract of 
his journal in La Harue. 



236 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1680. 

assembly, call on all present to smoke in their honor ; 
after which Hennepin was required to offer a more 
substantial tribute in the shape of cloth, beads, 
hatchets, tobacco, and the like, to be laid upon the 
bimdle of bones. The gifts thus acquired were 
then, in the name of the deceased, distributed 
among the persons present. 

On one occasion, Aquipaguetin killed a bear, and 
mvited the chiefs and warriors to feast upon it. 
They accordingly assembled on a prairie, west of 
the river ; and, the banquet over, they danced a 
" medicine-dance." They were all painted from 
head to foot, with their hair oiled, garnished with 
red and white feathers, and pow^dered with the 
down of birds. In this guise, they set their arms 
akimbo, and fell to stamping with such fury that 
the hard prairie was dented with the prints of their 
moccasons ; while the chief's son, crying at the top 
of his throat, gave to each in turn the pipe of war. 
Meanwhile, the chief himself, singing in a loud and 
rueful voice, placed his hands on the heads of the 
three Frenchmen, and from time to time interrupted 
his music to utter a vehement harangue. Hennepin 
could not understand the words, but his heart sank 
as the conviction grew strong within him that these 
ceremonies tended to his destruction. It seems, 
however, that, after all the chief's efforts, his party 
was in the minority, the greater part being averse 
to either killing or robbing the three strangers. 

Every morning, at daybreak, an old warrior 
shouted the signal of departure ; and the recum- 
bent savages leaped up, manned their birchen fleet, 



1680.] A HARD JOURNEY. 237 

and plied their paddles against the current, often 
without waiting to break their fast. Sometimes 
they stopped for a buffalo- hunt on the neighbor- 
ing prairies ; and there was no lack of provisions. 
They passed Lake Pepin, which Hennepin called 
the Lake of Tears, by reason of the bowlings and 
lamentations here uttered over him by Aquipague- 
tin ; and, nineteen days after his capture, landed 
near the site of St. Paul. The father's sorrows 
now began in earnest. The Lidians broke his canoe 
to pieces, having first hidden their own among the 
alder-bushes. As they belonged to different bands 
and different villages, their mutual jealousy now 
overcame all their prudence, and each proceeded 
to claim his share of the captives and the booty. 
Happily, they made an amicable distribution, or it 
would have fared ill with the three Frenchmen ; and 
each taking his share, not forgetting the priestly 
vestments of Hennepin, the splendor of which they 
could not sufficiently admire, they set out across 
the country for their villages, which lay towards 
the north, in the neighborhood of Lake Buade, 
now called Mille Lac. 

Being, says Hennepin, exceedingly tall and active, 
they walked at a prodigious speed, insomuch that 
no European could long keep pace with them. 
Though the month of May had begun, there were 
frosts at night ; and the marshes and ponds were 
glazed with ice, which cut the missionary's legs 
as he waded through. They swam the larger 
streams, and Hennepin nearly perished with cold 
as he emerged from the icy current. His two 



238 THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. [1680. 

companions, who were smaller than he, and who 
could not swim, were carried over on the backs 
of the Indians. They showed, however, no little 
endurance ; and he declares that he should have 
dropped by the way, but for their support. Seeing 
him disposed to lag, the Indians, to spur him on, 
set fire to the dry grass behind him, and then, 
taking him by the hands, ran forward with him to 
escape the flames. To add to his misery, he was 
nearly famished, as they gave hiin only a small 
piece of smoked meat, once a day, though it does 
not appear that they themselves fared better. On 
the fifth day, being by this time in extremity, he 
saw a crowd of squaws and children approaching 
over the prairie, and presently descried the bark 
edges of an Indian town. The goal was reached. 
He was among the homes of the Sioux. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1680, 1681. 
HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. 

Signs op Danger. — Adoption. — Henneptn and his Indian Relatives. 

— The Hunting Pakty. — The Sioux Camp. — Falls of St. Anthony. 

— A Vagabond Friar. — ITis Adventures on the Mississippi. — 
Greysolon Du Lhut. — Return to Civilization. 

As Hennepin entered the village, he beheld a 
sight Avhich caused him to invoke St. Anthony of 
Padua. In front of the lodges were certain stakes, 
to which were attached bundles of straw, iiitended, 
as he supposed, for burning him and his friends 
alive. His concern was redoubled when he saw 
the condition of the Picard Du Gay, whose hair and 
face had been painted with divers colors, and whose 
head was decorated with a tuft of white feathers. 
In this guise, he was entering the village, followed 
by a crowd of Sioux, who compelled him to sing 
and keep time to his own music by rattling a dried 
gourd containing a number of pebbles. The omens, 
indeed, were exceedingly threatening ; for treatment 
like this was usually followed by the speedy immo- 
lation of the captive. Hennepin ascribes it to the 
effect of his invocations, that, being led into one 
of the lodges, among a throng of staring squaws 



240 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680. 

and children, he and his companions were seated 
on the ground, and presented with large dishes of 
birch bark, containing a mess of wild rice boiled 
with dried whortleberries ; a repast which he de- 
clares to have been the best that had fallen to his 
lot since the day of his captivity.^ 

This soothed his fears : but, as he allayed his 
famished appetite, he listened with anxious interest 

1 The Sioux, or Dacotah, as they call themselves, were a numerous 
jieople, separated into three great divisions, wliich were again subdivided 
into bands. Those among whom Hennepin was a prisoner belonged to 
the division known as the Issanti, Issiuiyati, or, as he writes it, Issati, of 
which the principal band was tlie Moddewakantonwan. The other great 
divisions, the Yanktons and tlie Tintonwans, or Tetons, lived west of tlie 
Mississippi, extending beyond the Missouri, and ranging as far as the 
liocky Mountains. The Issanti cultivated the soil, but the extreme west- 
ern bands subsisted on the buffalo alone. The former had two kinds of 
dwelling, — the teepee or skin lodge, and the bark lodge. The teepee, which 
was used by all tlie lSIoux. consists of a covering of dressed buffalo hide 
stretched on a conical stack of poles. The bark lodge was peculiar to the 
eastern Sioux, and examples of it might be seen until within a few years 
among the bands on the St. Peter's. In its general character it was like 
the Huron and Iroquois houses, but was inferior in construction. It had 
a ridge roof framed of poles extending from the posts which formed the 
sides, and the whole was covered with elm-bark. The lodges in the vil- 
lages to which Hennepin was conducted were probably of this kind. 

The name Sioux is an abbreviation of Nadouessioux, an Ojibwa word 
meaning enemies. The Ojibwas used it to designate this people, and 
occasionally also the Iroquois, being at deadly war with both. 

Rev. Stephen E. Riggs, for many years a missionary among the 
Issanti Sioux, says that this division consists of four distinct bands. They 
ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi to the United States in 1887, 
and lived on the St. Peter's till driven thence in consequence of tl e 
massacres of 1862, 1863. The Yankton Sioux consist of two bands, which 
are again subdivided. The Assiniboins, or Hohays, are an offshoot from 
the Yanktons, with whom they are now at war. The Titonwan or Teton 
Sioux, forming the most western division, and the largest, comprise seven 
bands, and are among the bravest and fiercest tenants of the prairie. 

The earliest French writers estimate the total number of the Sioux at 
forty thousand. Mr. Riggs, in 1852, placed it at about twenty-five thou- 
sand. Like many other Indian tribes, they seem practically incapable of 
civillzatiou. 



1680.J HOMES OF THE SIOUX. 241 

to the vehement jargon of the chiefs and warriors, 
who were disputing among themselves to whom 
the three captives should respectively belong ; for 
it seems that, as far as related to them, the ques- 
tion of distribution had not yet been definitel) 
settled. The debate ended in the assigning of 
Hennepin to his old enemy Aquipaguetin ; who, 
however, far from persisting in his evil designs, 
adopted him on the spot as his son. The three 
companions must now part company. Du Gay, not 
yet quite reassured of his safety, hastened to con- 
fess himself to Hennepin, but Accau proved refrac- 
tory and refused the offices of religion, which did 
not prevent the friar from embracing them both, 
as he says, with an extreme tenderness. Tired as 
he was, he Avas forced to set out with his self- 
styled father to his village, which was fortunately 
not far off. An unpleasant walk of a few miles 
through woods and marshes brought them to the 
borders of a sheet of water, apparently Lake Buade, 
where five of Aquipaguetin's wives received the 
party in three canoes, and ferried them to an island 
on which the village stood. 

At the entrance of the chief's lodge, Hennepin 
was met by a decrepit old Indian, withered with 
age, who offered him the peace-pipe, and placed 
him on a bear-skin which was spread by the fire. 
Here, to relieve his fatigue, for he was well-nigh 
spent, a small boy anointed his limbs with the fat 
of a wild cat, supposed to be sovereign in these 
cases by reason of the great agility of that animal. 
His new father gave him a bark platter of fish. 



242 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680. 

covered him with a buffalo robe, and showed him six 
or seven of his wives, who were thenceforth, he was 
told, to regard him as a son. The chief's house 
hold was numerous ; and his allies and relations 
formed a considerable clan, of which the missionary 
found himself an involuntary member. He was 
scandalized when he saw one of his adopted brothers 
carrying on his back the bones of a deceased friend, 
wrapj)ed in the chasuble of brocade which they had 
taken with other vestments from his box. 

Seeing their new relative so enfeebled that he 
could scarcely stand, the Indians made for him 
one of their sweating baths,' where they immersed 
him in steam three times a week ; a process from 
which he thinks he derived great benefit. His 
strength gradually returned, in spite of his meagre 
fare ; for there was a dearth of food, and the 
squaws were less attentive to his wants than to 
those of their children. They respected him, how- 
ever, as a person endowed with occult powers, and 
stood in no little awe of a pocket compass which 
he had with him, as well as of a small metal pot 
with feet moulded after the face of a lion. This 
last seemed in their eyes a " medicine " of the most 
formidable nature, and they would not touch it with- 
out first wrapping it in a beaver-skin. For the rest, 
Hennepin made himself useful in various ways. 
He shaved the heads of the children, as was the 

^ These baths consist of a small hut, covered closely with buffhlo- 
skins, into which the patient and liis friends enter, carefully closing every 
aperture. A pile of heated stones is placed in tlie middle, and water is 
poured upon them, raising a dense vapor. They are still, 18(38, in use 
among the Sioux and some other tribes. 



1680.] HUNTING PARTY. 243 

custom of the tribe, bled certain asthmatic persons, 
and dosed others with orvietan, the famous pana- 
cea of his time, of which he had brought with him 
a good supply. With respect to his missionary 
functions, he seems to have given himself little 
trouble, unless his attempt to make a Sioux vocab- 
ulary is to be regarded as preparatory to a future 
apostleship. " I could gain nothing over them," 
he says, " in the way of their salvation, by reason 
of their natural stupidity." Nevertheless, on one 
occasion he baptized a sick child, naming it Antoi- 
nette in honor of St. Anthony of Padua. It seemed 
to revive after the rite, but soon relapsed and pre 
sently died, " which," he writes, " gave me great 
joy and satisfaction." In this, he was like the 
Jesuits, who could find nothing but consolation in 
aie death of a newly baptized infant, since it was 
thus assured of a paradise which, had it lived, it 
would probably have forfeited by sharing in the 
superstitions of its parents. 

With respect to Plennepin and his Indian father, 
there seems to have been little love on either side ; 
but Ouasicoude, the principal chief of the Sioux of 
this region, was the fast friend of the three white 
men. He was angry that they had been robbed, which 
he had been unable to prevent, as the Sioux had no 
laws, and their chiefs little power ; but he spoke his 
mind freely, and told Aquipaguetin and the rest, in 
full council, that they were like a dog who steals a 
piece of meat from a dish, and runs away with it. 
When Hennepin complained of hunger, the Indians 
had always promised him that early in the summer 



244 HENNEPIN AMONG TPIE SIOUX. [1G80. 

he should go with them on a buffalo hunt, and have 
food m abundance. The time at length came, and 
the inhabitants of all the neighboring villages pre- 
pared for departure. To each several band was 
assigned its special hunting-ground, and he was 
expected to accompany his Indian father. To this 
he demurred ; for he feared lest Aquipaguetin, angry 
a( the words of the great chief, might take this 
opportunity to revenge the insult put upon him. 
He therefore gave out that he expected a party of 
" spirits," that is to say. Frenchmen, to meet him 
at the mouth of the Wisconsin, bringing a supply 
of goods for the Indians ; and he declares that La 
Salle had in fact promised to send traders to that 
place. Be this as it may, the Indians believed him ; 
and, true or false, the assertion, as will be seen, an- 
swered the purpose for which it was made. 

The Indians set out in a body to the number 
of two hundred and fifty Avarriors, with their women 
and children. The three Frenchmen, Avho, though 
in different villages, had occasionally met during 
the two months of their captivity, were all of the 
party. They descended Rum River, which forms 
the outlet of Mille Lac, and which is called the 
St, Francis, by Hennepin. None of the Indians 
had offered to give him passage ; and, fearing lest 
he should be abandoned, he stood on the bank, 
hailing the passing canoes and begging fo be taken 
in. Accau and Du Gay presently appeared, pad- 
dling a small canoe which the Indians had given 
them ; but they would not listen to the missionary's 
call, and Accau, who had no love for him, cried 



1680.] CAMP OF SAVAGES. '245 

out that he had paddled him long enough ah*eady. 
Two Indians, however, took pity on him, and brought 
him to the place of encampment, where Uu Gay 
tried to excuse himself for his conduct, but Accau 
was sullen and kept aloof. 

After reaching the Mississippi, the whole party 
encamped together opposite to the mouth of Eum 
River, pitching their tents of skin, or building their 
bark huts, on the slope of a hill by the side of the 
water. It was a wild scene, this camp of savages 
among whom as yet no traders had come and no 
handiwork of civilization had found its way ; the 
tall warriors, some nearly naked, some wrapped in 
buffalo robes, and some in shirts of dressed deer- 
skin frincred with hair and embroidered with dved 
porcupine quills, Avar-clubs of stone in their hands, 
and quivers at their backs filled with stone-headed 
arrows ; the squaws, cutting smoke-dried meat with 
knives of flint, and boiling it in rude earthen pots 
of their own making, driving away, meanwhile, 
with shrill cries, the troops of lean dogs, who dis- 
puted the meal with a crew of hungry children. 
The whole camp, indeed, was threatened with star- 
vation. The three white men could get no food but 
unripe berries, from the effects of which Hennepin 
thinks they might all have died, but for timely 
doses of his orvietan. 

Being tired of the Indians, he became anxious 
to set out for the Wisconsin to find the party of 
Frenchmen, real or imaginary, who were to meet 
him at that place. That he was permitted to do 
so was due to the influence of the great chief 

21* 



246 hi:nnepin among the sioux. |1680. 

Ouasicuude, who always befriended him, and who 
had soundly berated his two companions for refusing 
him a seat in their canoe. Du Gay wished to go 
with him ; but Accau, who liked the Indian life as 
much as he disliked Hennepin, preferred to remain 
with the hunters. A small birch canoe was given 
to the two adventurers, together with an earthen 
pot ; and they had also between them a gun, a knife, 
and a robe of beaver-skin. Thus equipped, they 
began their journey, and soon approached the Falls 
of St. Anthony, so named by Hennepin in honor 
of the inevitable St. Anthony of Padua. ^ As they 
were carrying their canoe by the cataract, they saw 
five or six Indians, who had gone before, one of 
whom had climbed into an oak-tree beside the 
principal fall, whence in a loud and lamentable 
voice he was haranguing the spirit of the waters, 
as a sacrifice to whom he had just hung a robe of 
beaver-skin among the branches.^ Their attention 

1 Hennepin's notice of the Falls of St. Anthony, though brief, is suffi- 
ciently accurate. He says, in his first edition, that they are forty or fifty 
feet high, but adds ten feet more in the edition of l(i97. In 1821, according 
to Schoolcraft, the perpendicular fall measured forty feet. Great changes, 
however, have taken place here and are still in progress. The rock is a 
very soft, friable sandstone, overlaid by a stratum of limestone ; and it is 
crumbling with such rapidity under the action of the water that the cata- 
ract will soon be little more than a rapid. Other changes equally dis- 
as>trous, in an artistic point of view, are going on even more quickly. 
Reside the falls stands a city, which, by an ingenious combination of the 
(Jreek and Sioux languages, has received the name of Minneapolis, or 
City of the Waters, and which, in 1867, contained ten thousand inhabi- 
tants, two national banks, and an opera-house, while its rival city of St. 
Anthony, immediately opposite, boasted a gigantic water-cure and a State 
university. In short, the great natural beauty of the place is utterly 
spoiled. 

2 Oanktayhee, the principal deity of the Sioux, was supposed to live 
under these falls, though he manifested himself in the form of a buffalo. 



IG81) I ADVENTURES. 247 

was soon engrossed by another object. Looking 
over the edge of the cHfF which overhung the river 
below the falls, Hennepin saw a snake, which, as he 
avers, was six feet long,^ writhing upward towards 
the holes of the swallows in the face of the preci- 
pice, in order to devour their young. He pointed 
him out to Du Gay, and they pelted him with stones, 
till he fell into the river, but not before his contor- 
tions and the darting of his forked tongue had so 
affected the Picard's imagination that he was haunted 
that night with a terrific incubus. 

They paddled sixty leagues down the river in the 
heats of July, and killed no large game but a single 
deer, the meat of which soon spoiled. Their main 
resource was the turtles, whose shyness and watch- 
fulness caused them frequent disappointments, and 
many involuntary fasts. They once captured one 
of more than common size ; and, as they were 
endeavoring to cut off his head, he was near aven- 
ging himself by snapping off Hennepin's finger. 
There was a herd of buffalo in sight on the neigh- 
boring prairie ; and Du Gay went with his gun in 
pursuit of them, leaving the turtle in Hennepin's 
custody. Scarcely was he gone when the friar, 
raising his eyes, saw that their canoe, which they 
had left at the edge of the water, had floated out 

It WAS lie who created the earth, hke the Algonquin Manabozho, from 
nuid brought to him in the paws of a nmskrat. Carver, in 17G6, saw an 
Indian throw every thing he had about him into the cataract as an ofler- 
ing to this doity. 

> In the edition of 1683. In that of 1G97 he has grown to seven or 
eight feet. The bank-swallows still make their nests in these .cliffs, 
boring easily into the soft incohesive sandstone. 



248 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680. 

into the current. Hastily turning the turtle on his 
back, he covered him with his habit of St. Francis, 
on which, for greater security, he laid a number of 
stones, and then, being a good swimmer, struck out 
in pursuit of the canoe, which he at length over- 
took. Finding that it would overset if he tried 
to climb into it, he pushed it before him to the 
shore, and then paddled towards the place, at some 
distance above, where he had left the turtle. He 
had no sooner reached it than he heard a strange 
sound, and beheld a long file of buffalo, — bulls, 
cows, and calves, — entering the water not far off, to 
cross to the western bank. Having no gun, as 
became his apostolic vocation, he shouted to Du 
Gay, who presently appeared, running in all haste ; 
and they both paddled in pursuit of the game. Du 
Gay aimed at a young cow, and shot her in the head. 
She fell in shallow water near an island, where some 
of the herd had landed ; and, being unable to drag 
her out, they waded into the water and butchered 
her where she lay. It was forty-eight hours since 
they had tasted food. Hennepin made a fire, while 
Du Gay cut up the meat. They feasted so bounti- 
fully that they both fell ill, and were forced to remain 
two days on the island, taking doses of orvietan, 
before they were able to resume their journey. 

Apparently they were not sufficiently versed in 
woodcraft to smoke the meat of the cow ; and the 
hot sun soon robbed them of it. They had a few 
fish-hooks, but were not always successful in the 
use of them. On one occasion, being nearly 
famished, they set their line, and lay watching it. 



1G80 i THE UPPEU Mississirri. 2-19 

uttering prayers in turn. Suddenly, there was a 
great turmoil in the water. Du Gay ran to the line, 
and, with the help of Hennepin, drew in two large 
cat-fish.^ The eagles, or fish-hawks, now and then 
dropped a newly caught fish, of which they gladly 
took possession ; and once they found a purveyor in 
an otter which they saw by the bank, devouring 
some object of an appearance so wonderful that Du 
Gay cried out that he had a devil bet^^'een his paws. 
They scared him from his prey, which proved to be 
a spade-fish, or, as Hennepin correctly describes it, 
a species of sturgeon, with a bony projection from 
his snout in the shape of a paddle. They broke 
their fiist upon him, undeterred by this eccentric 
appendage. 

If Hennepin had had an eye for scenery, he 
would have found in these his vagabond rovings 
wherewith to console himself in some measure for 
his frequent fasts. The young Mississippi, fresh 
from its northern springs, unstained as yet by unhal- 
lowed union with the riotous Missouri, flowed calmly 
on its way amid strange and unique beauties ; a 
wilderness, clothed with velvet grass ; forest- 
shadowed valleys ; lofty heights, whose smooth 
slopes seemed levelled with the scythe ; domes and 
pinnacles, ramparts and ruined towers, the Avork of 
no human hand. The canoe of the voyagers, borne 
on the; tranquil current, glided in the shade of gray 
crags festooned with blossoming honeysuckles ; by 

• Hennepin speaks of tlieir size witli astonisliment, and says tliat tlie 
two together would weigli twenty-five pounds. Cat-fisli have been takea 
in the Mississippi weighing more than a hundred and fifty pounds 



2o{) HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680. 

trees mantled with Avild grape-^ines, dells bright 
with the flowers of the white euphorbia, the blue 
gentian, and the j)urple balm ; and matted forests, 
where the red squirrels leaped and chattered. They 
passed the great cliff whence the Indian maiden 
threw herself in her despair ; ^ and Lake Pepin lay 
before them, slumbering in the July sun ; the far- 
reaching sheets of sparkling water, the woody slopes, 
the tower-like crags, the grassy heights basking in 
sunlight or shadowed by the passing cloud ; all the 
fair outline of its graceful scenery, the finished and 
polished masterwork of Nature. And when at even- 
ing they made their bivouac fu'e, and drew up tlieu' 
canoe, while dim, sultry clouds veiled the west, and 
the flashes of the silent heat-lightning gleamed on 
the leaden water, they could listen, as they smoked 
their pipes, to the strange, mournful cry of the wliip- 
poorwills, and the quavering scream of the owls. 

Other thoughts than the study of the picturesque 
occupied the mind of Hennepin, when one day he 
saw his Indian father, Aquipaguetin, whom he had 
supposed five hundred miles distant, descending the 
river with ten warriors in canoes. He was eager to 
be the first to meet the traders, who, as Hennepin 
had given out, were to come with their goods to the 
mouth of the Wisconsin. The two travellers trem- 
bled for the consequences of this encounter ; but 
the chief, after a short colloquy, passed on his way. 

1 The " Lover's Leap," or " Maiilen's Rock," from wliicli a Sioux girl, 
Winona, or tlie " Eldest Born," is said to have thrown licrself in the 
despair of disappointed affection. The story, which seems founded in 
Irutli, will he found, not without embellishments, in Airs. Eastman's 
Legends of the Sioux. 



1680.] HE REJOINS THE INDLVNS. 251 

In three days he returned in ill-humor, having found 
no traders at the appointed spot. The Picard was 
absent at the time, looking for game, and Hennepin 
was sitting under the shade of his blanket, which he 
had stretched on forked sticks to protect him from 
the sun, when he saw his adopted father approach- 
ing with a threatening look and a war-club in his 
hand. He attempted no violence, however, but suf- 
fered his wrath to exhale in a severe scolding, after 
which he resumed his course up the river with his 
warriors. 

If Hennepin, as he avers, really expected a party 
of traders at the Wisconsin, the course he now took 
is sufficiently explicable. If he did not expect them, 
his obvious course was to rejoin Tonty on the Illi- 
nois, for which he seems to have had no inclination ; 
or to return to Canada by way of the Wisconsin, an 
attempt which involved the risk of starvation,, as the 
two travellers had but ten charges of powder left. 
Assuming, then, his hope of the traders to have been 
real, he and Du Gay resolved, in the mean time, to 
join a large body of Sioux hunters, who, as Aquipa- 
guetin had told them, were on a stream which he 
calls Bull lliver, now the Chippeway, entering the 
Mississippi near Lake Pepin. By so doing, they 
would gain a supply of food, and save themselves 
from the danger of encountering parties of roving 
warriors. 

They found this band, among whom was their 
companion Accau, and followed them on a grand 
hunt along the borders of the Mississippi. Du Gay 
was separated for a time from Plennepin, who was 



252 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680 

placed in a canoe with a withered squaw more than 
eighty years old. In spite of her age, she handled 
her paddle with admh-able address, and used it vigor- 
ously, as occasion required, to repress the gambols 
of three children, who, to Hennepin's great annoy- 
ance, occupied the middle of the canoe. The hunt 
was successful. The Sioux warriors, active as deer, 
chased the buffalo on foot with their stone-headed 
arrows, on the plains behind the heights that bor- 
dered the river ; while the old men stood sentinels 
at the top, watching for the approach of enemies. 
One day an alarm was given. The warriors rushed 
towards the supposed point of danger, but found 
nothing more formidable than two squaws of their 
own nation, who brought strange news. A war- 
party of Sioux, they said, had gone towards Lake 
Superior, and met by the way five " Spirits ; " that is 
to say, five Europeans. Hennepin was full of curi- 
osity to learn who the strangers might be ; and they, 
on their part, were said to have shown great anxiety 
to know the nationality of the three white men who, 
as they were told, were on the river. The hunt was 
over ; and the hunters, with Hennepin and his com- 
panion, were on their way northward to theii 
towns, when they met the five " Spirits " at some dis- 
tance below the Falls of St. Anthony. They proved 
to be Daniel Greysolon du Lhut, with four well- 
armed Frenchmen. 

This bold and enterprising man, stigmatized by 
the Intendant Duchesncau as a leader of coureurs 
de hois, was a cousin of Tonty, born at Lyons. He 
belonged to that caste of the lesser nobles, whose 



1080.] DU LHUT'S EXPLORATIONS. 2">3 

name was legion, and whose admirable military 
qualities shone forth so conspicuously in the wars 
of Louis Xiy. Though his enterprises were inde- 
pendent of those of La Salle, they were, at this 
time, carried on in connection with Count Frontenac 
and certain merchants in his interest, of whom Uu 
Lliut's uncle, Patron, was one ; while Louvigny, his 
brother-in-law, was in alliance with the Governor, 
and was an officer of his guard. Here, then, was a 
kind of family league, countenanced by Frontenac, 
and acting conjointly with him, in order, if the angry 
letters of the Intendant are to be believed, to reap 
a clandestine profit under the shadow of the Gover- 
nor's authority, and in violation of the royal ordi- 
nances. The rudest part of the work fell to the 
share of Du Lhut, w^ho, with a persistent hardi- 
hood, not surpassed, perhaps, even by La Salle, was 
continually in the forest, in the Indian towiis, or 
in remote wilderness outposts planted by himself, 
exploring, trading, fighting, ruling lawless savages, 
and whites scarcely less ungovernable, and, on one 
or more occasions, varying his life by crossing the 
ocean, to gain interviews with the colonial minister, 
Seignelay, amid the splendid vanities of Versailles. 
Strange to say, this man of hardy enterprise was a 
martyr to the gout, which, for more than a quarter 
of a century, grievously tormented him ; though 
for a time he thought himself cured by the interces- 
sion of the Loquois saint, Catharine Tegahkouita, to 
whom he had made a vow to that end. He was, 
without doubt, an habitual breaker of the royal 
ordinances regulating the fur-trade ; yet his services 

22 



254 IIKXXEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680, 

were great to the colony and to the crown, and his 
name deserves a place of honor among the pioneers 
of American civilization.^ 



* Tlie facts concerning Du Lhut have been gleaned from a variety of 
eonteniporary documents, cliiefly the letters of his enemy, Duchesneau, 
who always puts liim in the worst light, especially in his despatch to 
Scignelay of 10 Nov. 1679, whore he charges both him and the Governor 
with carrying on an illicit trade with the English of New York, an ex- 
ample, which, if followed, would ruin the colony by diverting the sources 
of its support to its rival. Du Lhut built a trading fort on Lake Superior, 
called Cananistigoyan (La Hontan), or Kamalastigouia (Perrot). It was 
on the north side, at the mouth of a river entering Thunder Bay, where 
Fort William now stands. In 1684, he caused two Indians, who had mur- 
dered several Frenchmen on Lake Superior, to be shot. He displayed 
in this affair great courage and coolness, undaunted by the crowd of 
excited savages who surrounded him and his little band of Frenchmen. 
The long letter, in which he recounts the capture and execution of the 
murderers, is before me. Duchesneau makes his conduct on this occa- 
sion the ground of a charge of rashness. In 1686, Denonvillo, then Gov 
ernor of the colony, ordered him to fortify the Detroit ; that is, the strait 
between Lakes Erie and Huron. He went thither with fifty men and 
built a palisade fort, which he occupied for some time. In 1687, he, 
together with Tonty and Durantaye, joined Denonville against the Sen- 
ecas, with a body of Indians from the Upper Lakes. In 1689, during the 
panic that followed the Iroquois invasion of Montreal, Du Lhut, with 
twenty-eight Canadians, attacked twenty -two Iroquois in canoes, received 
their fire without returning it, bore down upon them, killed eighteen of 
them, and captured three, only one escaping. In 1695, he was in com- 
mand at Fort Frontenac. In 1697, ho succeeded to the command of a 
company of infantry, but was suffering wretchedly from the gout at Fort 
Frontenac. In 1710,Vaudreuil, in a despatch to the minister, Ponchartrain, 
announced his death as occurring in the previous winter, and added the 
brief comment, " c'c'tait un tres-honnote homme." Other contemporaries 
speak to the same effect. " M""- Dulhut, Gentilhomme Lionnois, qui a 
beaucoup de mcrite et de capacitc." — La Hontan, i. 103 (1703). " Le 
Sienr du Lut, homme d'esprit et d'experience." — Le Clercq, ii. 137. 
Charlevoix calls him " one of the bravest officers the King has ever had 
in this colony." His name is variously' spelled Du Luc, Du Lud, Du 
Lude, Du Lut, Du Luth, Du Lhut. For an account of the Iroquois 
virgin, Tegahkouita, whose intercession is said to have cured him of the 
gout, see Charlevoix, i. 572. 

On a contemporary manuscript map l:y the Jesuit llafTeix, represent- 
ing the routes of Marquette, La Salle, and Du Lhut, are the following 
words, referring to the last-named discoverer, and interesting in connec- 
tion with Hennepin's statements : "M"' du Lude le premier a este' chez les 



1680.] DU LIIUT'S EXPLORATIONS. 255 

When Hennepin met him, he had been about 
two years in the wilderness. In September, 1678, 
he left Quebec for the purpose of exploring the 
region of the Upper Mississippi, and establishing 
relations of friendship with the Sioux and their 
kindred, the Assiniboins. In the summer of 1679, 
he visited three large towns of the eastern division 
of the Sioux, including those visited by Hennepin 
in the following year, and planted the king's arms in 
all of them. Early in the autumn, he was at the 
head of Lake Superior, holding a council with 
the Assiniboins and the lake tribes, and inducing 
them to live at peace with the Sioux. In all this, 
he acted in a public capacity, under the authority 
of the Governor ; but it is not to be supposed that 
he foro;ot his own interests or those of his asso- 
ciates. The Intendant angrily complains that he 
aided and abetted the coureurs de hois in their law- 
less courses, and sent down in their canoes great 
quantities of beaver-skins consigned to the mer- 
chants in league with him, under cover of whose 
names the Governor reaped his share of the profits. 

In June, 1680, while Hennepin was in the Sioux 
villages, Du Lhut set out from the head of Lake 
Superior with two canoes, four Frenchmen, and 
an Indian, to continue his explorations.' He as- 
cended a river, apparently the Burnt Wood, and 
reached from thence a branch of the Mississippi 

Sioux en 1678, et a este proche la source du Mississippi, et ensuite vini 
retirer le P. Louis (Hennepin) qui avoit este fait prisonnier cliez les Sioux." 
Du Lliut here appears as the deliverer of Hennepin. 

1 Abstracts of letters in Memoir on ike French Dominion in Canada, N. Y 
Col. Docs., ix. 78L 



256 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680. 

which seems to have been the St. Croix. Tt was 
now that, to his surprise, he learned that there 
were three Europeans on the main river below ; 
and, fearing that they might be Englishmen or 
Spaniards, encroaching on the territories of the 
king, he eagerly pressed forward to solve his 
doubts. When he saw Hennepin, his mind was 
set at rest ; and the travellers met with a mutual 
cordiality. They followed the Indians to their 
villages of Mille Lac, where Hennepin had now 
no reason to complain of their treatment of him. 
The Sioux gave him and Du Lhut a grand feast 
of honor, at whicli were seated a hundred and 
twenty naked guests ; and the great chief Ouasi- 
coude, with his own hands, placed before Hennepin 
a bark dish containing a mess of smoked meat and 
wild rice. 

Autumn had come, and the travellers bethought 
them of going home. The Sioux, consoled by their 
promises to return with goods for trade, did not 
oppose their departure ; and they set out together, 
eight white men in all. As they passed St. Antho- 
ny's Falls, two of the men stole two buffalo robes 
which were hung on trees as offerings to the spirit 
of the cataract. When Uu Lhut heard of it, he 
was very angry, telling the men that they had 
endangered the lives of the whole party. Henne- 
pin admitted that, in the view of human prudence, 
he was right, but urged that the act was good and 
praiseworthy, inasmuch as the offerings were made 
to a false god ; while the men, on their part, proved 
mutmous, declaring that they wanted the robes and 



1G80J HENNEPIN AND THE JESUITS. 257 

meant to keep them. The travellers coiitiiuicd 
their journey m great ill humor, but were pres- 
ently soothed by the excellent hunting which they 
found on the way. As they approached the Wis- 
consin, they stopped to dry the meat of the buffalo 
they had killed, when to their amazement they saw 
a war-party of Sioux approaching in a fleet of 
canoes. Hennepin represents himself as showing 
on this occasion an extraordinary courage, going 
to meet the Indians with a peace-pipe, and instruct- 
ing Du Lhut, who knew more of these matters 
than he, how it behooved him to conduct himself. 
The Sioux proved not unfriendly, and said nothing 
of the theft of the buffalo robes. They soon went 
on their way to attack the Illinois and Missouris, 
leaving the Frenchmen to ascend the Wisconsin 
unmolested. 

After various adventures, they reached the station 
of the Jesuits at Green Bay ; but its existence 
is wholly ignored by Hennepin, whose zeal for his 
own order will not permit him to allude to this 
establishment of the rival missionaries.^ He is 
equally reticent with regard to the Jesuit mission at 
Michillimackinac, where the party soon after arrived, 
and where they spent the winter. The only intima- 
tion which he gives of its existence consists in tlie 
mention of the Jesuit Pierson, who was a Fleminu- 
like himself, and who often skated with him on tlie 
frozen lake, or kept him company in fishing through 

' On the other hand, he sets down on his map of 1G83 a mission of 
the Recollets at a point north of the fartiiest sources of the Mississippi, to 
which uo white man liad ever penetrated. 

22* 



258 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1681. 

a, hole in the ice.^ When the spring opened, Hen- 
nepin descended Lake Huron, followed the Detroit 
to Lake Erie, and proceeded thence to Niagara. 
Here he spent some time in making a fresh exami- 
nation of the cataract, and then resumed his voyage 
on Lake Ontario. He stopped, however, at the 
great town of the Senecas, near the Genessee, where, 
with his usual spirit of meddling, he took upon him 
the functions of the civil and military authorities, 
convoked the chiefs to a council, and urged them to 
set at liberty certain Ottawa prisoners whom they 
had captured in violation of treaties. Having settled 
this affair to his satisfaction, he went to Fort Fron- 
tenac, where his brother missionary, Buisset, re- 
ceived him with a welcome rendered the warmer by 
a story which had reached him, that the Indians had 
hanged Hennepin with his own cord of St. Francis. 
From Fort Frontenac he went to Montreal ; and 
leaving his two men on a neighboring island, that 
they might escape the payment of duties on a quan- 
tity of furs which they had with them, he paddled 
alone towards the town. Count Frontenac chanced 
to be here ; and, looking from the window of a house 
near the river, he saw, approaching in a canoe, a 
Recollet father, whose appearance indicated the ex- 
tremity of hard service ; for his face was worn and 
sunburnt, and his tattered habit of St. Francis was 
abundantly patched with scraps of buffalo skin. 



1 He says that Pierson had come among the Indians to learn their lan- 
guage ; that lie " retained the frankness and rectitude of our country," 
and " a disposition always on the side of candor and sincerity. In a word, 
he seemed to me to be all that a Christian ought to be " (1097), 433. 



1681.1 HENNKriN AND FUONTENAC. 259 

When at length he recognized the long-lost Henne- 
pin, he received him, as the father writes, " with all 
the tenderness Avhich a missionary could expect from 
a person of his rank and quality." ^ He kept him 
for twelve days in his own house, and listened with 
interest to such of his adventures as the friar saw 
fit to divulge. 

And here we bid farewell to Father Hennepin. 
" Pi'ovidence," he Avrites, '•' preserved my life that I 
might make known my great discoveries to the 
world." He soon after went to Europe, where the 
story of his travels found a host of readers, but 
where he died at last in a deserved obscurity.^ 

• (1G97), 471. 

'' ^[oro than twenty editions of Hennepin's travels appeai-ed, in French, 
English, Dutch, Gorman, Italian, and Spanisli. Most of them include the 
, mendacious narrative of the pretended descent of the Mississippi. For a 
list of them, see Ilisl. Mckj., i. 340 ; ii. 24. 

Tiie following is from a letter of La Salle, dated at Fort Frontenac, 
22 Aug. IGSl. Tiiis, with one or two other passages of his letters, shows 
that he understood tiie friar's cliaracter, though he could scarcely have 
foreseen his scandalous attempts to defame him and rob him of his just 
honors. " J'ai cru qu'il c'toit ii propos de vous faire le narrc des aventurcs 
tie ce canot (du Picard ct d'Accau) parce que je ne'doute pas qu'on n'en 
parle ; et si vous souhaitez en confurer avec le P. Louis Ilenipin (sic) 
KocoUect qui est repasse en France, 11 faut un pen le connaitre, ear il ne 
manquera pas d'exage'rer toutes choses, c'est son caract6re, et li moy 
niesme il ni'a c'crit connne s'il eust estc' tout pros d'estre brulc', quoiqu'il 
n'en ait pas estc seulement en danger ; niai*- iJ -roit qu'il lui est honorable 
de le faire de la sorte, et il park ]>/us conf or moment a ce qu'il vent qu'a ce 
qu'il Jait." I am indebted for the above to M. Margry. 

In 1G99, Hennepin wished to return to Canada ; but, in a letter of that 
year, Louis XIV. orders the Governor to seize him, should he appear, and 
send him prisoner to Kochofort. This seems to have been in consequence 
of his renouncing the service of the French crown and dedicating his edi- 
tion of 1607 to William III. of England. 



CHAPTER XX. 

1681. 

LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. 

His Constancy. — His Plans. — His Savage Allies. — He become* 
Snow-bund. — Negotiations. — (jkand Council. — La Salle's Oka- 
TOKY. — Meeting with Tonty. — Pkepauation. — Depauture. 

In tracing the adventures of Tonty and the rov- 
ings of Hennepin, we have lost sight of La Salle, 
the pivot of the enterprise. Returning from the • 
desolation and horror in the valley of the Illinois, 
he had spent the winter at Fort Miami, on the St. 
Joseph, by the borders of Lake Michigan. Here he 
might have brooded on the redoubled ruin that had 
befallen him : the desponding friends, the exulting 
foes : the wasted energies, the crushing load of debt, 
the stormy past, the black and lowering future. 
But his mind was of a different temper. He had 
no thought but to grapple with adversity, and out of 
tiie fragments of his ruin to rear the fabric of a 
triumphant success. 

He would not recoil ; but he modified his plans 
to meet the new contingency. His Avhite enemies 
had found, or rather perhaps had made, a savage 
ally in the Iroquois. Their incursions must be 



1081.] INDIAN FRIENDS. 261 

stopped, or his enterprise would come to nought ; 
and he thought he saw the means by which this 
new danger could be converted into a source of 
strength. The tribes of the West, threatened by the 
common enemy, might be taught to forget their mu- 
tual animosities, and join in a defensive league, with 
La Salle at its head. They might be colonized 
around his fort in the valley of the Illinois, where, 
in the shadow of the French flag, and with the aid 
of French allies, they could hold the Iroquois in 
check, and acquire, in some measure, the arts of 
a settled life. The Franciscan friars could teach 
them the faith ; and La Salle and his associates could 
supply them with goods, in exchange for the vast 
harvest of furs which their hunters could gather in 
these boundless wilds. Meanwhile, he would seek 
out the mouth of the Mississippi ; and the furs 
gathered at his colony in the Illinois Avould then 
find a ready passage to the markets of the world. 
Thus might this ancient slaughter-field of warring 
savages be redeemed to civilization and Christianity ; 
and a stable settlement, half-feudal, half-commercial, 
grow up in the heart of the Avestern wilderness. 
The scheme Avas but a new feature, the result of 
new circumstances, added to the original plan of his 
great enterprise ; and he addressed himself to its 
execution with his usual vigor, and with an address 
which never failed him in his dealings Avith Indians. 
There AA^ere allies close at hand. Near Fort 
Miami Avere the huts of tAventy-five or thirty 
savages, exiles from their homes, and strangers in 
this Avestern Avorld. Several of the English colonies, 



262 LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. [168L 

from Virginia to Maine, had of late years been har- 
assed by Indian wars ; and the Puritans of New Eng- 
land, above all, had been scourged by the deadly 
outbreak of King Philip's war. Those engaged in 
it had paid a bitter price for their brief triumphs. 
A band of refugees, chiefly Abenakis and Mohegans, 
driven from their native seats, had roamed into these 
distant wilds, and were wintering in the friendly 
neighborhood of tlie French. La Salle soon won 
them over to his interests. One of then' number 
was the Mohegan hunter, who, for two years, had 
faithfully followed his fortunes, and who had been 
for four years in the West. He is described as a 
prudent and discreet young man, in whom La Salle 
had great confidence, and who could make himself 
understood in several western languages, belonging, 
like his own, to the great Algonquin tongue. This 
devoted henchman proved an efficient mediator with 
his countrymen. The New-England Indians, with 
one voice, promised to follow La Salle, asking 
no recompense but to call him their chief, and 
}ield to him the love and admiration which he 
rarely failed to command from this hero-worship- 
ping race. 

New allies soon appeared. A Shawanoe chief 
from the valley of the Ohio, whose following 
embraced a hundred and fifty warriors, came to 
ask the protection of the French against the all- 
destroying Iroquois. " The Shawanoes are too 
distant," was La Salle's reply ; " but let them come 
to me at the Illinois, and they shall be safe." The 
chief promised to join him in the autumn at Fort 



1681.1 LA SALLE SNOW-BLIND. 263 

Miami, with all his band. But, more important 
than all, the consent and co-operation of the Illi- 
nois must be gained ; and the Miamis, their neigh- 
bors, and of late their enemies, must be taught 
the folly of thcu* league with the Iroquois, and 
the necessity of joining in the new confederation. 
Of late, they had been made to see the perfidy of 
their dangerous allies. A band of the Iroquois, 
returning- from the slauohter of the Tamaroa 
Illinois, had met and miu-dered a band of Miamis 
on the Ohio, and had not only refused satisfac- 
tion, but entrenched themselves in three rude forts 
of trees and brushwood in the heart of the Miami 
country. The moment was favorable for negotiat- 
ing ; but, fii'st. La Salle wished to open a com- 
munication with the Illinois, some of whom had 
begun to return to the country they had abandoned. 
With this view, and also, it seems, to procure pro- 
\'isions, he set out on the first of March, with his 
lieutenant. La Forest, and nineteen men. 

The country was sheeted in snow, and the party 
joiuiieyed on snow-shoes ; but when they reached 
the open prairies, the white expanse g-lared in the 
sun with so dazzling a brightness that La Salle 
and several of the men became snow-blind. They 
stopped and encamped under the edge of a forest ; 
and here La Salle remained in darkness for three 
days, suffering extreme pain. Meanwhile, he sent 
forward La Forest, and most of the men, keeping 
with him his old attendant Hunaut. Going out in 
quest of pine-leaves, a decoction of which was 
supposed to be useful in cases of snow-blindness, 



264 LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. [1681. 

this man discovered the fresh tracks of Indians, 
followed them, and found a camp of Outagamies, 
or Foxes, from the neighborhood of Green Bay. 
From them he heard welcome news. They told 
him that Tonty was safe among the Pottawatta- 
mies, and that Hennepin had passed through their 
country on his return from among the Sioux.' 

A thaw took jDlace ; the snow melted rapidly ; 
the rivers were opened ; the blind men began to 
recover ; and, launching the canoes which they had 
dragged after them, the party pursued their way 
by water. They soon met a band of Illinois. La 
Salle gave them presents, condoled with them on 
their losses, and urged them to make peace and 
alliance with the Miamis. Thus, he said, they 
could set the Iroquois at defiance ; for he himself, 
with his Frenchmen and his Indian friends, would 
make his abode among them, supply them with 
goods, and aid them to defend themselves. They 
listened, well pleased, promised to carry his message 
to their countrymen, and furnished him with a large 
supply of corn." Meanwhile, he had rejoined La 
Forest, whom he now sent to Michillimackinac to 
await Tonty, and tell him to remain there till he, 
La Salle, should arrive. 

Having thus accomplished the objocts of his 
journey, he returned to Fort Miami, whence he 
soon after ascended the St. Joseph to the villag-e of 



i Relation des D^couveites, MS. A valuable confirmation of Hennepin's 
narrative. 

2 This seems to have been taken from the secret repositories, or cac/ics, 
of the ruined town of the Illinois. 



1C81.| EASTEIIX INDIANS. 265 

the Miami Indians on the portage, at the head of the 
Kankakee. Here he found unwelcome guests. 
These were a band of Iroquois warriors, who had 
been for some time in the place, and who, as he was 
told, had demeaned themselves with the insolence 
of conquerors, and spoken of the French with the 
i.'.nost contempt. He hastened to confront them, 
rebuked and menaced them, and told them that 
now, nhen he was present, they dared not repeat 
the calumnies which they had uttered in his absence. 
They stood abashed and confounded, and, during 
the following night, secret!}'' left the town, .and fled. 
The effect was prodigious on the minds of the Mia- 
mis, when they saw that J^a Salle, backed by ten 
Frenchmen, could command from their arrogant 
visitors a respect which they, with their hundreds 
of warriors, had wholly failed to inspire. Here, at 
the outset, w\as an augury full of promise for the 
approaching negotiations. 

There were other strangers m the town, — a 
band of eastern Indians, more numerous than those 
who had wintered at the fort. The greater num 
bcr were from Hhode Island, including, probably, 
some of King Philip's warriors ; others were from 
New York, and others again from Virginia. La 
Salle called them to a council, promised them a 
new home in the West, under the protection of the 
Great King, with rich lands, an abundance of game, 
and French traders to supply them with the goods 
which they had once received from the English. 
Let them but help him to make peace between the 
Miamis and the Illinois, and he would insure for 

23 



266 LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. [1681. 

them a future of prosperity and safety. They lis- 
tened with open ears, and promised their aid in the 
work of peace. 

On the next morning, the Miamis were called to 
a grand council. It was held in the lodge of their 
chief, from which the mats were removed, that the 
crowd witliout might hear what was said. La Salle 
rose, and harangued the concourse. Few men were 
so skilled in the arts of forest rhetoric and diplo- 
macy. After the Indian mode, he was, to follow 
his chroniclers, " the greatest orator in North 
America." ^ He began with a gift of tobacco, to 
clear the brains of his auditory ; next, for he had 
brought a canoe-load of presents to support his elo- 
quence, he gave them cloth to cover their dead, 
coats to dress them, hatchets to build a grand scaf 
fold in their honor, and beads, bells, and trinkets 
of all sorts, to decorate their relatives at a grand 
funeral feast. All this was mere metaphor. The 
living, while appropriating the gifts to their own 
use, were pleased at the compliment offered to their 
dead; and their delight redoubled as the orator pro- 
ceeded. One of their great chiefs had lately been 
killed ; and La Salle, aftc^r a eulogy of the departed, 
declared that he Avould now raise him to life again ; 
that is, that he would assume his name, and give 
support to his squaws and children. This flattering 
announcement drew forth an outburst of applause ; 
and when, to confirm his words, his attendants 
placed before them a huge pile of coats, shirts, and 

1 " En CO genre, il c'tnit le plus grand orateur de rAnie'rique Scpten- 
trionale " — Relation ties Dc'rouverles, MS. 



1681.] LA SALLE'S ORATORY. 267 

hunting-knives, the whole assembly exploded in 
yelps of admiration. 

Now came the climax of the harangue, intro- 
duced by a farther present of six guns. 

" He who is my master, and the master of all 
this country, is a mighty chief, feared by the whole 
world ; but he loves peace, and the words of his 
lips are for good alone. He is called the King of 
France, and he is the mightiest among the chiefs 
beyond the great water. His goodness reaches 
even to your dead, and his subjects come among 
you to raise them up to life. But it is his will to 
preserve the life he has given : it is his will that 
you should obey his laws, and make no war without 
the leave of Onontio, who commands in his name 
at Quebec, and who loves all the nations alike, be- 
cause such is the will of the Great King. You 
ought, then, to live at peace with your neighbors, 
and above all with the Illinois. You have had 
causes of quarrel with them ; but their defeat has 
avenged you. Though they are still strong, they 
Avish to make peace with you. Be content with 
the glory of having obliged them to ask for it. You 
have an interest in preserving them ; since, if the 
Iroquois destroy them, they will next destroy you. 
Let us all obey the Great King, and live together 
in peace, under his protection. Be of my mind, 
and use these guns that I have given you, not to 
make war, but only to hunt and to defend yoiu'- 
selves." ^ 

I Translated from the Relation, where these councils are reported at 
great length 



268 LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. [1G81. 

So saying, he gave two belts of wampum to con- 
firm his words ; and the assembly dissolved. On 
the following day, the chiefs again convoked it, and 
made their reply in form. It was all that La Salle 
could have wished. " The Illinois is our brother, 
because he is the son of our Father, the Great 
King." " We make you the master of our beaver 
and our lands, of our minds and our bodies." " We 
cannot wonder that our brothers from the East wish 
to live with you. We should have wished so too, 
if we had known what a blessing it is to be the 
children of the Great King." The rest of this 
auspicious day was passed in feasts and dances, in 
which La Salle and his Frenchmen all bore part. 
His new scheme was hopefully begun ; the ground 
was broken, and the seed sown. It remained to 
achieve the enterprise, twice defeated, of the dis- 
covery of the mouth of the Mississippi, that vital 
condition of his triumph, without which all other 
successes were meaningless and vain. 

To this end he must return to Canada, appease 
his creditors, and collect his scattered resources. 
Towards the end of May, he set out in canoes 
from Fort Miami, and reached Michillimackinac 
after a prosperous voyage. Here, to his great joy, 
he found Tonty and Zenobe Membre, who had 
lately arrived from Green Bay. The meeting was 
one at which even his stoic nature must have 
melted. Each had for the other a tale of disaster ; 
but, when La Salle recounted the long succession 
of his reverses, it was with the tranquil tone and 
cheerful look of one who relates the incidents of an 



1681.] DIFFICULTIES. 269 

ordinary joui-ney. Mernbre looked on him with 
admiration. " Any one else," he says, " would 
have thrown up his hand, and abandoned the enter- 
prise ; but, far from this, with a firmness and con- 
stancy that never had its equal, I saw him more 
resolved than ever to continue his work and push 
forward his discovery." ^ 

Without loss of time, they embarked together for 
Fort Frontenac, paddled their canoes a thousand 
miles, and safely reached their destination. Here, 
in this third beginning of his disastrous enterprise, 
La Salle found himself beset with embarrassments. 
Not only was he burdened with the fruitless costs 
of his two former efforts, but the heavy debts which 
he had incurred in building and maintaining Fort 
Frontenac had not been wholly paid. The fort 
and the seigniory were already deeply mortgaged ; 
yet, through the influence of Count Frontenac, the 
assistance of his secretary, Barrels, a consummate 
man of business, and the support of a wealthy rela- 
tive, he found means to appease his creditors and 
even to gain fresh advances. To this end, how- 
ever, he was forced to part with a portion of his 
monopolies. Having first made his will at Mon- 
treal, in favor of a cousin who had befriended him,^ 
he mustered his men, and once more set forth, re- 
solved to trust no more to agents, but to lead on 

1 Slerabrc, in Le Clercq, ii. 208. Tonty, in his unpublished memoir, 
speaks of the joy of La Salle at the meeting. The Relation, usually very 
accurate, says erroneously, that Tonty had gone to Fort Frontenac. La 
Forest had gone thither not long before La Salle's arrival. 

'i Copie (III testament du deffunt S"- de la Salle, 11 Aout, 1681, MS. Tho 
relative was Francois Plet, M.D., of Paris. 

23* 



270 LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. [1G81, 

his followers, in a united body, under his o^vn per 
sonal command.* 

The summer was spent when he reached Lake 
Ifuron.. J)ay after day, and week after week, the 
heavy-laden canoes crept on along the lonely wil- 
derness shores, by the monotonous ranks of bristling 
moss-bearded firs ; lake and forest, forest and lake ; 
a dreary scene haunted with yet more dreary memo- 
ries, — disasters, sorrows, and deferred hopes ; time, 
strength, and wealth spent in vain ; a ruinous past 
and a doubtful future ; slander, obloquy, and hate. 
With unmoved heart, the patient voyager held his 
course, and drew up his canoes at last on the beach 
at Fort Miami. 



' " On apprendra a la fin de cette annce, 1G82, le succes de la dccouverte 
qn'il ctoit rcsolu d'auhever, au phis tard le printcmps dernier, ou de pe'rir 
en y travaillant. Tant de traverses et de nialheurs toiijours arrivc's en 
son absence I'ont fait rcsoudre ;\ ne se fier plus a personne et a conduire 
lui-menie tout son monde, tout son equipage, et toute son entreprise, de 
laquelle il esperoit une heureuse conclusion." 

The above is a part of the closing paragraph of the Relation des De- 
conivrfes, so often cited, and of the excellent guidance of which we are 
henceforth deprived. It is a compilation made up from material supplied 
by the various members of La Salle's party, on their return to Canada, in 
1G81 ; and the greater portion is substantially the work of La Salle him- 
self. It is a document of great interest and undoubted authority. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

1681-1G82. 
SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. 

His Followers. — The Chicago Portage. — Descent of the Missis- 
sirri. — The Lost Hunter. — The Ahkansas. — The Taensas. — TiiK 
Natchez. — Hostility. — The Mouth ok the Mississiri'i — Louis 
XIV. proclaimed Sovereign of the Great West. 

The season was far advanced. On the bare 
limbs of the forest hung a few withered remnants 
of its gay autumnal livery ; and the smoke crept 
upward through the sullen November air from the 
squalid wigwams of La Salle's Abenaki and Mohe- 
gan allies. These, his new friends, were savages, 
whose midnight yells had startled the border ham- 
lets of New England ; who had danced around 
Puritan scalps, and whom Puritan imaginations 
painted as incarnate fiends. La Salle chose eigh- 
teen of them, " all well inured to war," as his 
companion Membre writes, and added them to the 
twenty-three Frenchmen who composed his party. 
They insisted on taking their women with them, to 
cook for them, and do other camp work. These 
were ten in number, besides three children ; and 
thus the expedition included fifty-four persons, of 
whom some Avere useless, and others a burden. 



272 SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. [1682. 

On the twenty-first of December, Tonty and 
jNIembre set out from Fort Miami with some of 
the party in six canoes, and crossed to the little 
river Chicago.^ La Salle, with the rest of the 
men, joined them a few days later. It was the 
dead of winter, and the streams were frozen. They 
made sledges, placed on them the canoes, the bag- 
gage, and a disabled Frenchman; crossed from the 
Chicago to the northern branch of the Illinois, and 
filed in a long procession down its frozen course. 
They reached the site of the great Illinois village, 
found it tenantless, and continued their journey, 
still dragging their canoes, till at length they 
reached open water below Lake Peoria. 

La Salle had abandoned, for a time, his original 
plan of building a vessel for the navigation of the 
Mississippi. Bitter experience had taught him 
the difficulty of the attempt, and he resolved to 
trust to his canoes alone. They embarked again, 
floating prosperously down between the leafless 
forests that flanked the tranquil river ; till, on the 
sixth of February, they issued forth on the majes- 

' La Salle, Relation de la D(frouverte, 1682, in Thomassy, Geolorjic Pra- 
tique lie la Loiiisiuiic, 9 ; Lettre dn Pere Zeiioble (Zcnobe Membre), 14 Aoust, 
1082, MS. ; Membre, in Le Clercq, ii. 214 ; Tonty, Memoire, MS. ; Proces 
Verbal de la Prise de Possession de la Louisiaim. 

The narrative ascribed to Membre, and published by Le Clercq, is 
based on the document preserved in the Archives Scientifiques de la 
Marine, entitled Relation de la De'couverle de I' Embouchure de la Riviere Mis- 
sissi/>/>i faite par le Sieur de la Salle, Vannee passe'e, 1682. Tlie writer of 
tlie narrative has used it very freely, copj'ing the greater part verbatim, 
with occasional additions of a kind which seem to indicate that he had 
taken part in the expedition. The Relation de la De'couverle, though writ- 
ten in the third person, is the oflBcial report of the discover}' made by La 
Salle ; or perhaps for liim, by Membre'. Membre's letter of August, 1082, 
is a briel'and succinct statement made immediately after his return. 



1682.] PRUDHOMME. 273 

tic bosom of the Mississippi. Here, for the time, 
their progress was stopped ; for the river was full 
of floating ice. La Salle's Indians, too, had lagged 
behind ; but, within a week, all had arrived, the 
navigation was once more free, and they resumed 
their course. Towards evening, they saw on their 
right the mouth of a great river ; and the clear 
current was invaded by the headlong torrent of the 
Missouri, opaque with mud. They built their camp- 
fires in the neighboring forest ; and, at daylight, 
embarking anew on the dark and mighty stream, 
drifted swiftly down towards unknown destinies. 
They passed a deserted town of the Tamaroas ; 
saw, three days after, the mouth of the Ohio ; ^ 
and, gliding by the wastes of bordering swamp, 
landed, on the twenty-fourth of February, near the 
Third Chickasaw Bluffs." They encamped, and 
the hunters went out for game. All returned, ex 
cepting Pierre Prudhomme ; and, as the others had 
seen fresh tracks of Indians, La Salle feared that 
he was killed. While some of his followers built 
a small stockade fort on a high bluffs by the river, 
others ranged the woods in pursuit of the missing 
hunter. After six days of ceaseless and fruitless 
search, they met two Chickasaw Indians in the 

• Called by I\Iembrc tlie Ouabache (Wabash). 

2 La Salle, Relation de la De'couverte de I' E^nboucknre, etc. ; Thoraassy, 10 
Menibre gives the same date ; but the Proces Verbal makes it the twenty- 
sixth. 

3 Gravier, in his letter of 16 Feb. 1701, says that he encamped near a 
" pfreat bluff of stone, called Fort Prudhomme, because M. de la Salic, 
going on his discovery, entrenched himself liere with his party, fearing 
that Prudhomme, who had lost himself in the woods, had been killed 
by the Indians, and that he himself would be attacked." 



274 SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. [1682. 

forest ; and, through them, La Salle sent presents 
and peace-messages to that warlike people, whose 
villages Avere a few days' journey distant. Several 
dajs later, Prudhomme was found, and brought 
in to the camp, half dead. He had lost his way 
while hunting ; and, to console him for his woes, 
La Salle christened the newly built fort with his 
name, and left him, with a few others, in chargR 
of it. 

Again they embarked ; and, with every stage of 
their adventurous progress, the mystery of this vast 
New World was more and more unveiled. More 
and more they entered the realms of spring. The 
hazy sunlight, the warm and drowsy air, the tender 
foliage, the opening flowers, betokened the reviving 
life of Nature. For several days more they fol- 
lowed the writhings of the great river, on its 
tortuous course through wastes of swamp and 
cane-brake, till on the thirteenth of March ^ they 
found themselves wrapped in a thick fog. Neither 
shore was visible ; but they heard on the right the 
booming of an Indian drum, and the shrill outcries 
of the war-dance. La Salle at once crossed to the 
opposite side, where, in less than an hour, his men 
threw up a rude fort of felled trees. Meanwhile, 
the fog cleared; and, from the farther bank, the 
astonished Indians saw the strange visitors at their 
work. Some of the French advanced to the ed^e 
of the water, and beckoned them to come over. 
Several of them approached, in a wooden canoe, to 

1 La Salle, Relation ; Thomassy, 11. 



1682.] THE ARKANSAS. 275 

within the distance of a gun-shot. La Salle dis- 
played the calumet, and sent a Frenchman to meet 
them. He was well received ; and the friendly 
mood of the Indians being now apparent, the 
whole party crossed the river. 

On landing, they found themselves at a town of 
the Kappa band of the Arkansas, a people dwell- 
ing? near the mouth of the river which bears their 
name. The inhabitants flocked about them with 
eager signs of welcome ; built huts for them, brought 
them firewood, gave them corn, beans, and dried 
fruits, and feasted them without respite for three 
days. " They are a lively, civil, generous people," 
says Membre. *' very different from the cold and 
taciturn Indians of the North." They shoAved, 
indeed, some slight traces of a tendency towards 
civilization ; for domestic fowls and tame geese 
were wandering among their rude cabins of bark.* 

La Salle and Tonty at the head of their follow- 
ers marched to the open area in the midst of the 
village. Here, to the admiration of the gazing 
crowd of warriors, women, and children, a cross 
was raised bearing the arms of France. Membre, 
in canonicals, sang a hymn ; the men shouted Vive 
le Roi ; and La Salle, in the king's name, took for- 
mal possession of the country.^ The friar, not, he 
ilatters himself, wnthout success, labored to ex- 
pound by signs the mysteries of the faith ; while 
La Salle, by methods equally satisfactory, drew 

^ Membre, in Le Clercq, ii. 224 ; Tonty, M^moire, MS. 
'•* Proces Verbal de la Prise de Possession du Pays d(.t Arkansas, 14 Mars, 
1682, MS. 



276 SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. [1G82 

from the chief an acknowledgment of fealty to 
Louis XIV.' 

After touching at several other towns of this 
people, the voyagers resumed their course, gtiided 
by two of the Arkansas ; passed the sites, since 
become historic, of Vicksburg and Grand Gulf; and, 
about three hundred miles below the Arkansas, 
stopped by the edge of a swamp on the. western 
side of the river. ^ Here, as their two guides told 
them, was the path to the great town of the Taen- 
sas. Tonty and Membre were sent to visit it. They 
and their men shouldered their birch canoe throuijh 
the s\Aamp, and launched it on a lake which had 
once formed a portion of the channel of the river, 
lu two hours they reached the town, and Tonty 
gazed at it with astonishment. He had seen nothing 
like it in America ; large square dwellings, built of 
sun-baked mud mixed with straw, arched over with 
a dome-shaped roof of canes, and placed in regu- 
lar order around an open area. Two of them were 
larger and better than the rest. One was the lodge 

1 The nation of the Akanseas, Alkansas, or Arkansas, dwelt on the 
west bank of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Arkansas. Tliey 
were divided into four tribes, living for tlio most part in i eparate villages. 
Tiiose first visited bj' La Salle were tlie Kajipas or Quaiaws, a remnant 
of whom still subsists. The others were the Topingas or Tongengas ; 
the Torimans; and the Osotouoy, or Sauthouis. According to Charlevoix, 
who saw them in 1721, they were regarded as the tallest and best formed 
Indians in America, and were known as les Beaux Homines. Graviersays 
that they once lived on the Ohio. 

2 In Tensas County, Louisiana. Tonty's estimates of distance are here 
much too low. They seem to be founded on observations of latitude, 
without reckoning the windings of the river. It may interest sportsmen 
to know that the party killed several large alligators on their way. Mem- 
brd is much astonished that such monsters should be born of eggs, like 
chickens. 



1682.] THE TAENSAS. 277 

of the chief; the other was the temple, or house 
of the Sun. They entered the former, and found 
a single room, forty feet square, where, in the dim 
light, for there was no opening but the door, the 
chief sat awaiting them on a sort of bedstead, 
three of his wives at his side, while sixty old 
men, wrapped in white cloaks woven of mulberry - 
bark, formed his divan. When he spoke, his wives 
howled to do him honor ; and the assembled coun- 
cillors listened with the reverence due to a poten- 
tate for whom, at his death, a hundred victims 
were to be sacrificed. He received the visitors 
graciously, and joyfully accepted the gifts which 
Tonty laid before him.' This interview over, the 
Frenchmen repaired to the temple, wherein were 
kept the bones of the departed chiefs. In construc- 
tion it was much like the royal dwelling. Over it 
were rude wooden figures, representing three eagles 
turned towards the east. A strong mud wall sur- 
rounded it, planted with stakes, on which were 
stuck the skulls of enemies sacrificed to the Sun ; 
while before the door was a block of wood, on 
which lay a large shell surrounded with the braided 
hair of the victims. The interior was rude as a 
barn, dimly lighted from the doorway, and full of 
smoke. There was a structure in the middle which 
Membre thinks was a kind of altar ; and before it 
burned a perpetual fire, fed with three logs laid 
end to end, and watched by two old men devoted 

1 Tonty, M€inoire, MS. In the spurious narrative published in Ton- 
ty's name, the account is emhellishcd and exa<igerated. Conip.are Mem- 
br6, in Le Ciercq, ii. 227. La Salle's statements in the Relation of 1082 
(Thomassy, 12) sustain those of Tonty. 

24 



278 SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. [1682. 

to this sacred office. There was a mysterious recess, 
too, which the strangers were forbidden to explore, 
but which, as Tonty was told, contained the riches 
of the nation, consisting of pearls from the Gulf, 
and trinkets obtained, probably through other tribes, 
from the Spaniards and other Europeans. 

The chief condescended to visit La Salle at his 
camp ; a favor which he would by no means have 
granted, had the visitors been Indians. A master 
of ceremonies, and six attendants, preceded him, to 
clear the path and prepare the place of meeting. 
When all was ready, he was seen advancing, clothed 
in a white robe, and preceded by two men bearing 
white fans ; while a third displayed a disk of bur- 
nished copper, doubtless to represent the Sun, his 
ancestor ; or, as others will have it, his elder 
brother. His aspect was marvellously grave, and 
he and La Salle met with gestures of ceremonious 
courtesy. The interview was very friendly ; and the 
chief returned well pleased with the gifts which his 
entertainer bestowed on him, and which, indeed, 
had been the principal motive of his visit. 

On the next morning, as they descended the 
river, they saw a wooden canoe full of Indians ; 
and Tonty gave chase. He had nearly overtaken 
it, when more than a hundred men appeared sud- 
denly on the shore, with bows bent to defend then* 
countrymen. La Salle called out to Tonty to with- 
draw. He obeyed ; and the whole party encamped 
on the opposite bank. Tonty offered to cross the 
river with a peace-pipe, and set out accordingly 
with a small party of men. When he landed, the 



1G82.] THE NATCHEZ 279 

Tndiaiis made signs of friendship by joining their 
hands, — a proceeding by which Tonty, having but 
one hand, was somewhat embarrassed ; but he di- 
rected his men to respond in his stead. La Salle 
and Membre now joined him, and went with the 
Indians to their village, three leagues distant. 
Here they spent the night. " The Sieur de la 
Salle," writes Membre, " whose very air, engaging 
manners, tact, and address attract love and respect 
alike, produced such an effect on the hearts of 
these people, that they did not know how to treat 
us well enough." ^ 

The Indians of this village were the Natchez ; 
and their chief was brother of the great chief, or 
Sun, of the whole- nation. His town was several 
leagues distant, near the site of the city of Natchez ; 
and thither the French repaired to visit him. They 
saw what they had already seen among the Taensas, 
— a religious and political despotism, a privileged 
caste descended from the Sun, a temple, and a 
sacred iire.^ La Salle planted a large cross, with 

i Membre, in Le Clcrcq, ii. 232. 

^ The Natchez iiiul the Taensas, whose habits and customs were similar, 
did not, in tlieir social organization, differ radically from other Indians. 
Tlie same principle of clanship, or totenishlp, so widely spread, existed in 
full force among tliem, combined with their religious ideas, and developed 
into forms of wliich no other example, equally distinct, is to be found. 
(For Indian clanship, see "Jesuits in North America," Ltlrochiclion.) 
Antong the Natciiezand Taensas, tlie principal clan formed a ruling caste; 
and its chiefs hail the attributes of domi-gods. As descent was through 
the female, the chief's son never succeeded him, but the son of one of his 
sisters ; and as she, by the usual totcmic law, was forced to marry in 
another elan, — tliat is, to marry a common mortal, — her iiusband, 
thougli the destined father of a demi-god, was treated by her as little 
better than a slave. She might kill him, if he proved unfaithful; but be 
was fbrced to submit to her infidelities in silence. 

The customs of the Natchez have been described by Du Tratz. Le 



280 SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. [1G82. 

the arms of France attached, in the midst of the 
town ; while the inhabitants looked on with a satis- 
faction which they would hardly have displayed, 
had they understood the meaning of the act. 

The French next visited the Coroas, at their 
village, two leagues below ; and here they found a 
reception no less auspicious. On the thirty-first 
of March, as they approached Red Kiver, they 
passed in the fog a town of the Oumas ; and, three 
days later, discovered a party of fishermen, in 
wooden canoes, among the canes along the margin 
of the water. They fled at sight of the French 
men. La Salle sent men to reconnoitre, who, as 
they struggled through the marsh, were greeted 
with a shower of arrows ; while, from the neighbor 
ing village of the Quinipissas,^ invisible behind the 
cane-brake, they heard the sound of an Indian drum, 
and the whoops of the mustering Avarriors. La 
Salle, anxious to keep the peace with all the tribes 
along the river, recalled his men, and ^pursued his 
voyage. A few leagues below, they saw a cluster 
of Indian lodges on the left bank, apparently void 
of inhabitants. They landed, and found three of 
them filled with corpses. It was a village of the 
Tangibao, sacked by their enemies only a few days 
before.^ 

Petit, and others. Charlevoix visited tlieir temple in 1721, and found it in 
a soniewliat shabby condition. At this time, the Tacnsas were extir.ct 
In 1729, the Natchez, enraged by the arbitrary conduct of a Frencli com 
maudaut, massacred the neighboring settlers, and were in consequence 
expelled from their country and nearly destroyed. A few still survive, 
incorporated with the Creeks ; but they have lost their peculiar customs. 

1 In St. Charles County, on the left bank, not far above New Orleans. 

'^ Hennepin uses this incident, as well as most of those which have 
preceded it, in making up the story of his pretended voyage to the Gulf. 



1C82.J POSSESSION TAKEN. 281 

And now they iicared their journey's end. On 
the sixth of April, the river divided itself into three 
broad channels. La Salle followed that of the west, 
and D'Antray that of the east ; while Tonty took the 
middle passage. As he drifted down the turbid 
current, between the low and marshy shores, the 
brackish water changed to brine, and the breeze 
grew fresh with the salt breath of the sea. Then 
the broad bosom of the great Gulf opened on his 
sight, tossing its restless billows, limitless, voiceless, 
lonely, as when born of chaos, without a sail, with- 
out a sign of life. 

La Salle, in a canoe, coasted the marshy borders 
of the sea ; and then the reunited parties assembled 
on a spot of dry ground, a short distance above the 
mouth of the river. Llerc a column was made ready, 
bearing the arms of France, and inscribed with the 
words, — 

Louis LE Grand, Roy de France et de Navarrk, 

REGNE ; LE NEUVIliME AvRIL, 1G82. 

The Frenchmen were mustered under arms ; and, 
while the Nev/-England Indians and their squaws 
stood gazing in wondering silence, they chanted the 
Te Deum, the ExaucUat, and the Domine scdmun 
fac Regem. Then, amid volleys of musketry and 
shouts of Vive le Roi, La Salle planted the column 
in its place, and, standing near it, proclaimed in a 
loud voice, — 

" In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, 
and victorious Prince, Louis the Cireat, by the grace 
of God King of France and of Na\aiTe, j-'ourteenth 

21* 



282- SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. [1682 

of that name, I, this nuith day of April, one thou- 
sand six hundred and eig'hty-two, in virtue of the 
commission of his Maje^^ty, which I hold in my hand, 
and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, 
have taken, and do now take, in the name of his 
Majesty and of his successors to the crown, posses- 
sion of this country of Louisiana, the seas, hai'bors, 
ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the nations, 
peoples, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, 
minerals, fisheries, streams, and rivers, within the ex- 
tent of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the 
great river St. Louis, otherwise called the Ohio, 
... as also along the Iliver Colbert, or Mississippi, 
and the rivers which discharge themselves therein, 
from its source beyond the country of the Nadoues- 
sious ... as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf 
of Mexico, and also to the mouth of the River of 
Palms, upon the assurance we have had from the 
natives of these countries, that we are the first Euro- 
peans who have descended or ascended the said 
River Colbert ; hereby protesting against all who 
may hereafter undertake to invade any or all of these 
aforesaid countries, peoples, or lands, to the preju- 
dice of the rights of his Majesty, acquired by the 
consent of the nations dwelling herein. Of which, 
and of all else that is needful, I hereby take to 
witness those wlio hear me, and demand an act of 
the notary here present." ^ 

1 In tlic passages oniitted above, for tlie sake of brevity, the Ohio is 
mentioned as being called also the Oli(//iiii ( Allegiiany), ^i/ioit and Chu- 
kocjOiHi ; and La Salle declares that he takes possession of the ciountry 
with the consent of the nations dwellin"; in it, of wliom he names tiie 
Chaouanons (Shawanoes), Kious, or Nadouessious (Sioux}, Cliikachas 



1G82.1 POSSESSION TAKEN. 2^'i 

Shouts of Vive le Roi and volleys of muskcfry 
responded to his words. Then a cross was planted 
beside the column, and a leaden phite buried near it, 
bearing the arms of France, with a Latin inscription, 
LiidovLcus Magnus regiiat. The weather-beaten 
voyagers joined their voices in the grand hymn of 
the Vexilla Regis : — 

" Tlie banners of Heaven's King advance, 
Tlie mystery of the Cross shines forth ; " 

and renewed shouts of Vive le Roi closed the cere- 
mony. 

On that day, the realm of France received on 
parchment a stupendous accession. The fertile 
plains of Texas ; the vast basin of the ^Mississippi, 
from its frozen northern springs to the sultry borders 
of the Gulf; from the woody ridges of the Alleghanies 
to the bare peaks of the llocky Mountains, — a region 
of savannahs and forests, sun-cracked deserts, and 
grassy prairies, watered by a thousand rivers, ranged 
by a thousand warlike tribes, passed beneath the 
sceptre of the Sultan of Versailles ; and all by 
virtue of a feeble human voice, inaudible at half a 
mile. 

(Chickasaws), Motantees (?), Illinois, Mitchigamias, Arkansas, Natches, 
and Koruas. This alleged consent is, of course, mere farce. If there 
could be any doubt as to tlie meaning of the words of La Salle, as recorded 
in the Prods Vcrhnl. de la Prise da Possession de la Louisinne, it would be 
set at rest by Le Clercq, who says, " Le Sieur de la Salle prit an nom de 
sa Majcste possession de ce fleuve, ^e Ionics les ririeres qui y mt rent, H de 
tons les pni/s qn'elks arrosent." These words are borrowed from the report 
of La Salle ; see Thoniassy, 14. A copy of tlie original of tlie Prates 
Verbal is before me. It bears the name of Jacques de la Mctairie, Notary 
of Fort Frontenac, who was one of the party. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

1682-1683. 
ST. LOUIS OF THE ILLINOIS. 

LouisTANA. — Illness of La Salle. — ILs Colony on the Illinois. — 
Fort St. Louis. — Recall of Fhoxtenac. — Le Fevhe de la Barre. 
— Critical Position of La Sallk. — Hostilitv of 'niE New Gover- 
nor. — Triumfii of the Adverse Faction. — La Salle sails for 

Flt,VNCE. 

Louisiana was the name bestowed by La Salle 
on the new domain of the French crown. The 
rule of the Bourbons m the West is a memory of 
the past, but the name of the Great King still 
survives in a narrow corner of their lost empire. 
The Louisiana of to day is but a single State of 
the American republic. The Louisiana of La Salle 
stretched from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Moun- 
tains ; from the Rio Grande and the Gulf to the 
farthest springs of the Missouri.' 

1 The boundarios are laid down on tlie prcat map of Franquelin, made 
in 1G84, and preserved in tlie ])(^'p6t des Cartes of the Marine. Tiie line 
runs along the south shore of Lake Eric, and tiicnce follows the heads of 
the streams flowing into Lake Michigan. It then turns north-west, and is 
lost in the vast unknown of tlie now British Territories. On the sou'^ 
it is drawn by the heads of the streams flowing into the Gulf, as far \ve.«« 
as Mobile, after which it follows the shore of the Gulf to a little somli of 
the Kio Grande, tiien runs west, north-west, and finally north alo.ng- tuo 
range of the Rocky Mountains. 



1682.] ILLNESS OF LA SALLE. 28o 

La Salle had written his name in history ; but his 
hard-earned success was but the prelude of a harder 
task. Herculean labors lay before him, if he would 
realize the schemes with which his brain was preg- 
nant. Bent on accomplishing them, he retraced his 
course, and urged his canoes upward against the 
muddy current. The party were famished. They had 
little to subsist on but the flesh of alligators. When 
they reached the Quinipissas, who had proved hos- 
tile on their way down, they resolved to risk an in 
lerview with them, in the hope of obtaining food. 
The treacherous savages dissembled, brought them 
corn, and, on the following night, made an attack 
upon them, but met with a bloody repulse. They 
next revisited the Natchez, and found an unfavor- 
able change in their disposition towards them. 
They feasted them, indeed, but, during the repast, 
surrounded them with an overwhelming force of 
warriors. The French, however, kept so well on 
their guard, that their entertainers dared not make 
an attack, and sufl'ered them to depart unmolested.^ 

And now, in a career of unwonted success and 
anticipated triumph. La Salle was sharply arrested 
by a foe against which the boldest heart avails 
nothing. As he ascended the Mississippi, he was 
seized by a dangerous illness. Unable to proceed, 
he sent forward Tonty to Michillimackinac, whence, 
after despatching news of their discovery to Canada, 
he was to return to the Illinois. La Salle himself 
lay helpless at Fort Prudhomme, the palisade work 
which his men had built at the Chickasaw Bluffs 

1 Tonty, M^moire, MS. 



286 ST LOUIS OF THE ILLINOIS. [1682. 

on their way clown. Father Zenobe Membre at- 
tended him ; and, at the end of July, he was once 
more in a condition to advance by slow movements 
towards the Miami, which he reached in about a 
month. 

His descent of the Mississippi had been success- 
ful as an exploration, and this was all. Could he 
have executed his original plan, have built a vessel 
on the Illinois and descended in her to the Gulf of 
Mexico, he would have been able to defray in some 
measure the costs of the enterprise, by means of a 
cargo of buffalo hides collected from Indians on the 
way, with which he would have sailed to the. West 
Indies, or perhaps to France. With a fleet of 
canoes, this was of course impossible ; and there 
was nothing to offset the enormous outlay which 
he and his family had made. He proposed, as we 
have seen, to found, on the banks of the Illinois, 
a colony of French and Indians, of which he should 
be the feudal lord, and which should answer the 
double purpose of a bulwark against the Iroquois 
and a depot for the furs of all the Western tribes ; 
and he hoped, in the following spring, to secure an 
outlet for this colony, and for all the trade of the 
Mississippi and its tributaries, by occupying its 
mouth with a fort and a dependent colony.^ Thus 
he would control the valley of the great river of 
the W^est. 

* " Monsieur de la Salle se dispose de retourner sur ses pas ilia mer au 
printcmps procliain avec un plus grand nomhre de gens, et des families, 
pour y faire des ctablisseniens." Membre', in Le Clercq, ii. 248. This 
was written in 1682, immediately after the return from the mouth of the 
Mississippi. 



1G82.] "STARVED ROCK." 287 

He rejoined Tonty at Michillimackinac in Sep- 
tember. It was his purpose to go at once to France 
to provide means for establishing his projected post 
at the month of the Mississippi ; and he ordered 
Tonty, meanwhile, to collect as many men as pos- 
sible, return to the Illinois, build a fort, and lay the 
foundations of the colony, the plan of which had 
been determined the year before. La Salle was 
about to depart for Quebec, when news reached 
him that changed his plans, and caused him to post- 
pone his voyage to France. He heard that those 
pests of the wilderness, the Iroquois, were about to 
renew their attacks on the western tribes, and espe- 
cially on their former allies, the Miamis.^ This 
would ruin his projected colony. His presence was 
indispensable. He followed Tonty to the Illinois, 
and rejoined him near the site of the great town. 

The cliff called " Starved Rock," now pointed 
out to travellers as the chief natural curiosity of 
the region, rises, steep on three sides as a castle 
wall, to the height of a hundred and twenty-five feet 
above the river. In front, it overhangs the water 
that washes its base ; its western brow looks down 
on the tops of the forest trees below ; and on the east 
lies a wide gorge or ravine, choked with the min 
glcd foliage of oaks, walnuts, and elms ; while in 
its rocky depths a little brook creeps down to 
mingle with the river. From the rugged trunk of 
the stunted cedar that leans forward from the brink, 
you may drop a plummet into the river below, where 

* Lettre de La Bar^e an Ministre, 14 Nov. 1082, MS. 



288 ST. LOUIS OF THE ILLINOIS. [1682 

the cat-fish and the turtles may plainly be seen 
gliding over tlie wrinkled sands of the clear and 
shallow current. The cliff is accessible only from 
behind, where a man may climb up, not without 
difficulty, by a steep and narrow passage. The to;) 
is about an acre in extent. Here, in the month of 
December, La Salle and Tonty began to entrencli 
themselves. They cut away the forest that crowned 
the rock, built storehouses and dwellings of its re- 
mains, dragged timber up the rugged pathway, and 
encircled the summit with a palisade.' 

• " Starved Rock " perfectly answers in every respect to the indica- 
tions of the contemporary maps and documents concerning " Le llocher," 
the site of La Salle's fort of St. Louis. It is laid down on several con- 
temporary maps, besides the great map of La Salle's discoveries, made in 
1684. Tliey all place it on the south side of the river; whereas Butfalo 
IJock, three miles above, which has been supposed to be the site of the 
fort, is on the north. The rock fortified by La Salle stood, we are told, 
at the edge of the water ; while Buffalo Rock is at some distance from the 
bank. The latter is crowned by a plateau of great extent, is but sixty 
feet high, is accessible at many points, and would require a large force to 
defend it; whereas La Salle chose "Le Kocher," because a few men could 
hold it against a multitude. Charlevoix, in 1721, describes both rocks, 
and says that the top of Buffalo Rock had been occupied by the Miami 
village, so that it was known as Le Fort des Miamis. This explains the 
Indian remains found here. He then speaks of " Le Rocher," calling it 
by that name; says that it is about a league below on tlie left or south 
side, forming a sheer cliff, very high, and looking like a fortress on the 
border of the river. He saw remains of palisades at the top which he 
thinks were made by the Illinois (Journal flistoriqne, Let. xxvii), tliough 
his countrymen had occupieil it only three j-ears before. " The French 
reside on the Hock (Le Roclier), which is very lofty and impregnable." 
— Memoir on Western Indidns, 1718, /// N. Y. Col. Docs., ix. BUO. St. Cosme, 
passing this way in 1699, mentions it as " Le Vieux Fort," and says tliat 
it is " a rock about a hundred feet liigh at the edge of the river, where 
M. de la Salle built a fort, since abandoned." — Journal de St. Cosme, MS. 
Joutel, who was here in 1687, says, " Fort St. Louis is on a steep rock, 
about two hundred feet high, with the river running at its base." He 
adds, that its only defences were palisades. The true height, as stated 
above, is about a hundred and twenty-five feet. 

A traditional interest also attaches to this rock. It is said, that in 



1682.] LA SALLE'S COLONY. 289 

Thus the whiter was passed, and meanwhile the 
work of negotiation went prosperously on. The 
mhids of the Indians had been already prepared. 
In La Salle they saw their champion against the 
Iroquois, the standing terror of all this region. 
They gathered around his stronghold like the timor- 
ous peasantry of the middle ages around the rock- 
built castle of their feudal lord. From the wooden 
ramparts of St. Louis, — for so he named his fort, — 
high and inaccessible as an eagle's nest, a strange 
scene lay before his eye. The broad flat valley of 
the Illinois was spread beneath him like a map, 
bounded in the distance by its low wall of woody 
hills. The river wound at his feet in devious chan- 
nels among islands bordered with lofty trees ; then, 
far on the left, flowed calmly westward through the 
vast meadows, till its glimmering blue ribbon was 
lost in hazy distance. 

There had been a time, and that not remote, when 
these fair meadows were a waste of death and des- 
olation, scathed with fire, and strewn with the 
ghastly relics of an Iroquois victory. Now, all was 
changed. La Salle looked down from his rock on a 
concourse of wild human life. Lodges of bark and 
rushes, or cabins of logs, were clustered on the open 
plain, or along the edges of the bordering forests. 
Squaws labored, warriors lounged in the sun, naked 
children whooped and gambolled on the grass. Be- 

tlie Indian wars that followed the assassination of Pontiac, a few years 
after the cession of Canada, a party of Illinois, assailed by the Pottawat- 
tamies, liere took refuge, defying attack. At length they were all de- 
stroyed by starvation, and hence the name of " Starved Rock." 
For other proofs concerning this locality, see ante, p. 221. 
25 



290 LA SALLE'S SUCCESS. [1682. 

yond the river, a mile and a half on the left, the 
banks were studded once more with the lodges of 
the Illinois, who, to the number of six thousand, 
had returned, since their defeat, to this their favorite 
dwelling-place. Scattered along the valley, among 
the adjacent hills, or over the neighboring prairie, 
were the cantonments of a half-score of other tribes, 
and fragments of tribes, gathered under the pro- 
tecting Eegis of the French, — Shawanoes from the 
Ohio, Abenakis from Maine, Miamis from the 
sources of the Kankakee, with others whose barba- 
rous names are hardly worth the record.^ Nor 

^ This singular extemporized colony of La Salle, on the banks of the 
Illinois, is laid down in detail on tlie great map of La Salle's discoveries, 
by Jean Baptiste Franquelin, finished in 1684. There can be no doubt 
that this part of the work is composed from authentic data. La Salle 
himself, besides others of his party, came down from the Illinois in tlie 
autumn of 1683, and undoubtedly supplied the young engineer with mate- 
rials. The various Indian villages, or cantonments, are all indicated, with 
the number of warriors belonging to each, the aggregate corresponding 
very nearly with that of La Salle's report to the minister. The Illinois, 
properly so called, are set down at 1,200 warriors ; the JNIiamis, at 1,300 ; 
the Shawanoes, at 200; the Ouiatenons (Weas), at 500; the reanqhichia 
(Piankishaw) band, at 150; the Pepikokia, at 160; the Kilatica, at 300; 
and the Ouabona, at 70 ; in all, 3,880 warriors. A few others, probably 
Abenakis, lived in the fort. 

The Fort St. Louis is placed on the map at the exact site of Starved 
Eo ;k, and the Illinois village at the place where, as already mentioned, 
(see p. 221), Indian remains in great quantities are yearly ploughed up. 
The Shawanoe camp, or village, is placed on the south side of the river, 
behind the fort. The country is here hilly, broken, and now, as in La 
Salle's time, covered with wood, which, however, soon ends in the open 
prairie. A short time since, the remains of a low, irregular earthwork of 
considerable extent were discovered at the intersection of two ravines, 
about twenty-four hundred feet behind, or south of. Starved Rock. The 
earthwork follows the line of the ravines on two sides. On the east, there 
is an opening, or gateway, leading to the adjacent prairie. The work is 
very irregular in form, and shows no trace of the civilized engineer. In 
the stump of an oak-tree upon it. Dr. Paul counted a himdred and sixty 
rings of annual growth. The village of the Shawanoes (Chaouenons), on 



1682.] LA SALLE'S COLONY. 291 

were these La Salle's only dependants. By the 
terms of his patent, he held seigniorial rights over 
this wild domain ; and he now began to grant it out 
in parcels to his followers. These, however, were 
as yet but a score ; a lawless band, trained in forest 
license, and marrying, as their detractors affirm, a 
new squaw every day in the week. This was after 
their lord's departure, for his presence imposed a 
check on these eccentricities. 

La Salle, in a memoir addressed to the Minister 
of the Marine, reports the total number of the 
Indians around Fort St. Louis at about four thousand 
warriors, or twenty, thousand souls. His diplomacy 
had been crowned with a marvellous success, for 
which his thanks were due, first, to the L'oquois, 
and the universal terror they inspired ; next, to his 
own addi'ess and unwearied energy. His colony 

Franquelin's map, corresponds with the position of this earthwork. I am 
indebted to the kindness of Dr. John Paul, and Colonel D. F. Hitt, the 
proprietor of Starved Rock, for a plan of these curious remains, and a 
survey of the neighboring district. I must also express my obligations to 
Mr. W. E. Bowman, photographer at Ottawa, for views of Starved Rock, 
and otlier features of the neighboring scenery. 

An interesting relic of the early explorers of this region was found a 
few years ago at Ottawa, six miles above Starved Rock, in the shape of a 
small iron gun, buried several feet deep in the drift of the river. It con- 
sists of a welded tube of iron, about an inch and a half in calibre, strength- 
ened by a series of thick iron rings, cooled on, after the most ancient as 
well as the most recent method of making cannon. It is about fourteen 
inches long, the part near the. muzzle having been burst off. The con- 
struction is very rude. Smiill field-pieces, on a similar i)rinciple, were 
used in tlie fourteenth century. Several of them may be seen at the 
Musc'e d'Artillerie at Paris. In the time of Louis XIV. the art of casting 
cannon was carried to a high degree of perfection. The gun in question 
may have been made by a Frencii blacksmith on the spot. A far less 
probable supposition is, tiiat it is a relic of some unrecorded visit of the 
Spaniards ; but the pattern of the piece would have been antiquated even 
in the time of De Soto. 



292 LA SALLE'S SUCCESS. [1G82. 

had sprung up, as it were, iu a night ; but might 
not a night suffice to disperse if? 

The conditions of maintaining it were twofold. 
First, he must give efficient aid to his savage 
colonists against the Iroquois ; secondly, he must 
supply them Avith French goods' in exchange for 
their furs. The men, arms, and ammunition for 
their defence, and the goods for trading with them, 
must be brought from Canada, until a better and 
surer avenue of supply could be provided through 
the entrepot which he meant to establish at the 
mouth of the Mississippi. Canada was full of his 
enemies ; but, as long as Count Frontenac was in 
power, he was sure of support. Count Frontenac 
Avas in power no longer. He had been recalled to 
France through the intrigues of the party adverse 
to La Salle ; and Le Fevre de la Barre reigned in 
his stead. ^ 

La Barre was an old naval officer of rank, ad- 
vanced to a post for which he proved himself 
notably unfit. If he Avas Avithout the arbitrary 
passions which had been the chief occasion of the 
recall of his predecessor, he Avas no less without 
his energies and his talents. Frontenac's absence 
Avas not to be permanent : dark days Avere in store 
for Canada. In her hour of need, she Avas to hail 
with delight the return of the haughty noble- 

1 La Barre had formerly held civil oflSces. He had been Maitre de Ee- 
quetes, and afterwards lutendant of the Bourbonnais. He had gained no 
little reputation in the West Indies, as governor and lieutenant-general of 
Cayenne, which he recovered from the English, who had seized it, and 
whom he soon after defeated in a naval fight. Sixteen years had elapsed 
since these exploits, and meanwhile he had grown old. 



1683.] LA SALLfi AND LA BARRE. 293 

man ; and all his faults were to be forgotten in 
the splendor of his services to the colony and the 
crown. 

La Barre showed a weakness and an avarice for 
which his advanced age may have been in some 
measnre answerable. He was no whit less un- 
scrupulous than his predecessor in his secret vio- 
lation of the royal ordinances regulating the fur- 
trade, which it was his duty to enforce. Like 
Frontenac, he took advantage of his position to 
carry on an illicit traffic with the Indians ; but it 
was with different associates. The late governor's 
friends were the new governor s enemies ; and La 
Salle, armed with his monopolies, was the object 
of his especial jealousy.^ 

jNIean while, La Salle, buried in the western wil- 
derness, remained for the time ignorant of La 
Barre's disposition towards him, and made an effort 
to secure his good-Avill and countenance. He wrote 
to him from his Kock of St. Louis, early in the 
spring of 1683, expressing the hope that he should 
have from him the same support as from Count 
Frontenac ; " although," he says, " my enemies will 
try to influence you against me." His attachment 
to Frontenac, he pursues, has been the cause of 
all the late governor's enemies turning against him. 

J Tlie royal instructions to La Barre, on his assuming the government, 
dated at Versailles, 10 May, 1G82, require him to give no farther permis- 
sion to make journeys of discovery towards the Sioux and the Mississippi, 
as his Majesty thinks his subjects better employed in cultivating tiie 
land. The letter adds, however, that La Salle is. to be allowed to continue 
his discoveries, if they a])pear to be useful. The same instructions are 
repeated in a letter of the Minister of the Marine to the new Intendant of 
Canada, De Meules. 

25* 



29-1 LA SALLE'S SUCCESS. [1683. 

He then recounts his voyage down the Mississippi ; 
says that, with twenty-two Frenchmen, he caused 
all the tribes along the river to ask for peace ; 
speaks of his right, under the royal patent, to 
build forts anywhere along his route, and grant 
out lands around them, as at Fort Frontenac. 

" My losses in my enterprises," he continues, 
*' have exceeded forty thousand crowns. I am 
now going four hundred leagues south-south-west 
of this place, to induce the Chickasaws to follow 
the Shawanoes, and other tribes, and settle, like 
them, at St. Louis. It remained only to settle 
French colonists here, and this I haA^e ah-eady 
done. I hope you will not detain them as coureurs 
de hois, when they come down to Montreal to make 
necessary ^ourchases. I am aware that I have no 
right to trade with the tribes who descend to Mon- 
treal, and I shall not permit such trade to my men ; 
nor have I ever issued licenses to that effect, as my 
enemies say that I have done." ^ 

Again, on the fourth of June following, he writes 
to La Barre, from the Chicago portage, complain- 
ing that some of his colonists, going to Montreal 
for necessary supplies, have been detained by his 
enemies, and begging that they may be allowed to 
leturn, that his enterprise may not be ruined. " The 
Iroquois," he pursues, " are again invading the coun- 
try. Last year, the Miamis were so alarmed by 
them that they abandoned their town and fled ; but, 

1 Lettre de la Salle a La Barre, Fori St. Louis, 2 Avril, 1683, MS. The 
above is somewhat condensed from passages in the original. 



1683.] LA SALLE AND LA BARRE. 295 

at my return, they came back, and have been in- 
duced to settle with the lUinois at my fort of 
St. Louis. The Iroquois have lately murdered 
some families of their nation, and they are all in 
terror again. I am afraid they will take flight, and 
so prevent the Missouries and neighboring tribes 
from coming to settle at St. Louis, as they are about 
to do. 

" Some of the Hurons and French tell the Mi- 
amis that I am keeping them here for the Iroquois 
to destroy. I pray that you will let me hear from 
you, that I may give these people some assurances 
of protection before they are destroyed in my sight. 
Do not suff"er my men who have come down to the 
settlements to be longer prevented from returning. 
There is great need here of reinforcements. The 
Iroquois, as I have said, have lately entered the 
country ; and a great terror prevails. I have post- 
poned going to Michillimackinac, because, if the 
Iroquois strike any blow in my absence, the Mi- 
amis will think that I am in league with them ; 
whereas, if I and the French stay among them, they 
will regard us as protectors. But, Monsieur, it is in 
vain that we risk our lives here, and that I exhaust 
my means in order to fulfil the intentions of his 
Majesty, if all my measures are crossed in the 
settlements below, and if those who go down to 
bring munitions, without which we cannot defend 
ourselves, are detained under pretexts trumped up 
for the occasion. If I am prevented from bringing 
up men and supplies, as I am allowed to do by the 
permit of Count Frontenac, then my patent from the 



296 LA SALLE'S SUCCESS. [1683. 

king is useless. It would be very hard for us, 
after having done what was required even before 
the time prescribed, and after suffering severe losses, 
to have our efforts frustrated by obstacles got up 
designedly. 

" I trust that, as it lies Avith you alone to prevent 
or to permit the return of the men whom I have sent 
down, you will not so act as to thwart my plans. A 
part of the goods which I have sent by them belong 
not to me, but to the Sieur de Tonty, and are a part 
of his pay. Others are to buy munitions indispen- 
sable for our defence. Do not let my creditors seize 
them. It is for their advantage that my fort, full 
as it is of goods, should be held against the enemy. 
I have only twenty men, with scarcely a hundred 
pounds of powder ; and I cannot long hold the 
country without more. The Illinois are very capri- 
cious and uncertain. ... If I had men enough to 
send out to reconnoitre the enemy, I would have 
done so before this ; but I have not enough. I 
trust you will put it in my power to obtain more, 
that this important colony may be saved." ^ 

While La Salle was thus writing to La Barre, 
La Barre was writing to Seignelay, the Marine and 
Colonial Minister, decrying his correspondent's dis- 
coveries, and pretendmg to doubt their reality. 



1 Lettre de la Salle, a La Baire, Portage de Chicagon, 4 Juin, 1G83, i\IS. 
Portions of the above extracts are condensed in tlie rendering. A long 
passage is omitted, in wliich La vSalle expresses liis belief tliat bis vessel, 
tbe " Griffin," had been destroyed, not by Indians, but by the pilot, who, 
as lie thinks, had been induced to sink her, and then, with some of the 
crew, attempted to join DuLliut with their plunder, but were captured by 
Indians on the Mississippi. 



1683] LA SALLE AND LA BAKRE. 297 

" The Iroquois," he adds, " have sworn his [La 
Salle's] death. The imprudence of this man is 
about to involve the colony in war." ^ And a<>;ain 
he writes in the following spring, to say that La 
Salle was with a score of vagabonds at Green Bay, 
where he set himself up as a king, pillaged his 
countrymen, and put them to ransom ; exposed the 
tribes of the West to the incursions of the Iroquois, — 
and all under pretence of a patent from his Majes- 
ty, the provisions of which he grossly abused ; but 
as his privileges would expire on the twelfth of 
May ensuing, he would then be forced to come 
to Quebec, where his creditors, to whom he owed 
more than thirty thousand crowns, were anxiously 
awaiting him.^ 

Finally, when La Barre received the two letters 
from La Salle, of which the substance is given 
above, he sent copies of them to the Minister 
Seignelay, with the following comment: "By the 
copies of the Sieur de la Salle's letters, you will 
perceive that his head is turned, and that he has 
been bold enough to give you intelligence of a false 
discovery. He is trying to build up an imaginary 
kingdom for himself by debauching all the bank- 
rupts and idlers of this country."^ Such calumnies 
had their effect. The enemies of La Salle had al- 
ready gained the ear of the king ; and he had 



1 Leitre de Ln Barre mi Minlsfre, 14 Xov. 1C?2, MS. 

2 Lethe deLn Barre an Minislre, ZO Avril, ]OS<i. La Salle liail sjicnt 
the winter, not at Green Bay, as tliis slanderous letter declares, but in the 
Illinois country. 

a N.Y. Col. Docs., ix. 204. The letter is dated 4 Nov. 1G83. 



298 LA SALLE'S SUCCESS. [1683. 

written m August from Fontainebleau to his new 
Governor of Canada : " I am convinced, like you, 
.that the discovery of the Sieur de la Salle is very 
useless, and that such enterprises ought to be pre- 
vented in future," as they tend only to debauch the 
inhabitants by the hope of gain, and to diminish 
the revenue from beaver-skins." ^ 

In order to understand the posture of affairs at 
this time, it must be remembered that Dongan, the 
English Governor of New York, was urging on the 
Iroquois to attack the Western tribes, with the ob- 
ject of gaining, through their conquest, the control 
of the fur-trade of the interior, and diverting it 
from Montreal to Albany. The scheme was full 
of danger to Canada, which the loss of the trade 
would have ruined. La Barre and his associates 
were greatly alarmed at it. Its complete success 
would have been fatal to their hopes of profit ; but 
they nevertheless wished it such a measure of suc- 
cess as would ruin their rival, La Salle. Hence, 
no little satisfaction mingled with their anxiety, 
when they heard that the Iroquois were again 
threatening to invade the Miamis and the Illinois ; 
and thus La Barre, whose duty it was strenuously 
to oppose the intrigue of the English, and use 
every effort to quiet the ferocious bands wliom they 
were hounding against the Indian allies of the 
E'rench, was, in fact, but half-hearted in the work. 
He cut off La Salle from all supplies ; detained the 
men whom he sent for succor ; and, at a confer- 

1 Lettre du Boy a La Bane, 5 Aoust, 1683, MS. 



1683.] FORT FRONTENAC SEIZED. 299 

ence with the Iroquois, told them that they were 
welcome to plunder and kill hini.^ 

The old Governor, and the unscrupulous ring 
with which he was associated, now took a step, to 
which he was doubtless emboldened by the tone 
of the king's letter, in condemnation of La Salle's 
enterprise. He resolved to seize Fort Frontenac, 
the property of La Salle, under the pretext that 
the latter had not fulfilled the conditions of the 
grant, and had not maintained a sufficient gar- 
rison.^ Two of his associates, La Chesnaye and 
Le Ber, armed with an order from him, went up 

1 M€moire pour rendre compte a Mo7ixei'(jneur le Marquis de Seigmhiy de 
I'JEiai ok le Sieur de Lasalle a luiss^ le Fort Frontenac pendant le temps de sa 
d€converte, MS. The Marquis de Denonville, La Bane's successor in the 
government, says, in his memoir of Aug. 10, 1688, tliat La Barre had told 
the Iroquois to plunder La Salle's canoes. 

La Barre's course at this time was extremely indirect and equivocal. 
The memoir to Seignelay, cited above, declares — and other documents 
sustain it — that he was playing into the hands of the English, by sending 
furs, on his own account and that of his associates, to Albany, where he 
could sell them at a liigh rate, and at the same time avoid the payment of 
duties to the French farmers of the revenue. 

The merchants, La Cliesnaye, Le Ber, and Le Moyne, were at the head 
of the faction with wiiich La Barre had identified himself; and their hatred 
of La Salle knew no bounds. If we are to believe La Potherie, he hira- 
eelf had formerly, in defence of his monopolies, told the Iroquois that they 
might plunder the canoes of traders who had not a pass from him. The 
adverse faction now retorted by adding the permission of mtn-der to the 
permission of pillage. Margry thinks that La Chesnaye was the prompter 
of this villany. 

2 La Salle, when at Mackinaw, on his way to Quebec, in 1682, had 
been recalled to the Illinois, as we have seen, by a threatened Iroquois 
invasion. There is before me a copy of a letter which he then wrote to 
Count Frontenac, begging him to send up more soldiers to the fort at his 
(La Salle's) expense. Frontenac, being about to sail for France, gave this 
letter to his newly arrived successor. La Barre, who, far from complying 
with the request, withdrew La Salle's soldiers already at tlie fort, and 
then made its defenceless state a pretext for seizing it. This statement is 
made in the memoir addressed to Seignelay, before cited. 



300 LA SALLE'S SUCCESS. [1683, 

and took possession, despite the remonstrances of 
La Salle's creditors and mortgagees ; lived on La 
Salle's stores, sold for their own profit, and (it is said) 
that of La Barre, the provisions sent by the king, 
and turned in the cattle to pasture on the growing 
crops. La Forest, La Salle's lieutenant, was told 
that he might retain the command of the fort, if he 
would join the associates ; but he refused, and 
sailed in the autumn for France.^ 

Meanwhile, La Salle remained at the Illinois 
in extreme embarrassment, cut off from supplies, 
robbed of his men who had gone to seek them, 
and disabled from fulfilling the pledges he had given 
to the surrounding Lidians. Such was his position, 
when reports came to Fort St. Louis that the Lo- 
quois were at hand. The Indian hamlets were 
wild with terror, beseeching him for succor which 
he had no power to give. Happily, the report 
proved false. No Iroquois appeared ; the threat- 
ened attack was postponed, and the summer passed 
away in peace. But La Salle's position, with the 
Governor his declared enemy, was intolerable and 
untenable ; and there was no resource but in the 
protection of the court. Early in the autumn, he 
left Tonty in command of the Hock, bade farewell 
to his savage retainers, and descended to Quebec, 
intending to sail for France. 

On his way, he met the Chevalier de Baugis, an 
officer of the king's dragoons, commissioned by 
La Barre to take possession of Fort St. Louis, and 

1 Tlicse are the statements of the memorial, addressed in La Salle's 
behalf, to the minister Seignelay. 



1683.] LA SALLE SAILS FOR FRANCE. 301 

bearing letters from the Governor, ordering La 
Salle to come to Quebec ; a superfluous command, 
as he was then on his way thither. He smothered 
his wrath, and WTote to Tonty to receive De Baugis 
well. The Chevalier and his party proceeded to the 
Illinois, and took possession of the fort ; De Baugis 
commanding for the Governor, while Tonty re- 
mained as representative of La Salle. The two 
officers spent the winter harmoniously ; and, with 
the return of spring, each found himself in soro 
need of aid from the other. Towards the end of 
March, the Iroquois attacked their citadel, and 
besieged it for six days, but at length withdrew, 
discomfited, carrying with them a number of In- 
dian prisoners, most of whom escaped from their 
clutches.' 

Meanwhile, La Salle had sailed for France, and 
thither we will follow him. 



. 1 Tonty, M^moire, MS. ; Lettre de La Barre, au Ministre, 5 Juin, 1684 " 
Ibid., 9 JuiM, 1684, MSS. 



26 



CHAPTER XXIIl. 

1684. 

A ISTEW ENTERPRISE. 

La Salle at Court. — His Proposals. — Occupation or Louisiana. — 
Invasion OF Mexico. — Royal Favor. — Preparation. — The Naval 
Commander. — His Jealousy of La Salle. — Dissensions. 

From the wilds of the Illmois, — crag, forest, and 
prairie, squahd wigwams, and naked savages, — La 
Salle crossed the sea; and before him rose the 
sculptured wonders of Versailles, that world of 
gorgeous illusion and hollow splendor, where Louis 
the Magnificent held his court. Amid its pomp of 
weary ceremonial, its glittering masquerade of vice 
and folly, its carnival of vanity and pride, stood the 
man whose home for sixteen years had been the 
wilderness, his bed the earth, his roof the sky, and 
his companions a rude nature and ruder men. In 
all that throng of hereditary nobles, there was none 
of a prouder spirit than the son of the burgher of 
Rouen. 

He announced what he had achieved in words 
of energetic simplicity, more impressive than all 
the tinsel of rhetoric.^ He had friends near the 

1 Witness the following. He speaks of himself in the third person. 
" To acquit himself of the commission with which he was cliargeil, he 
has neglected all his private afiairs, because they were alien to his enter- 



1684.] LA SALLE'S PROrOSALS. 303 

court, — Count Frontenac was one of them, — and 
he gained the ear of the colonial minister. There 
was a wonderful change in the views of the court 
towards him. The great Colbert had lately died, 
bequeathing to his son Seignelay, his successor in 
the control of the Marine and Colonies, some of 
his talents, and all of his harshness and violence. 
Seignelay entered with vigor into the schemes of 
La Salle, and commended them to the king, his 
master. The memorial, in which these schemes 
are set forth, is still preserved, as well as another 
memorial designed to prepare the way for it ; and 
the following is the substance of them. 

The preliminary document states that the late 
Monseigneur Colbert was of opinion that it was 
important for the service of his Majesty to dis- 
cover a port in the Gulf of Mexico ; that to this 
end the memorialist. La Salle, made five journeys 
of upwards of five thousand leagues, in great part 
on foot ; and traversed more than six hundred 
leagues of unknown country, among savages and 

prise : he has omitted nothing that was needful to its success, notwitli- 
stanihng dangerous illness, lieavy losses, and all the other evils he has 
suflered, wliich would have overcome the courage of any one who had 
not the same zeal and devotion for the accomplishment of tliis purpose. 
During five years he has made five journeys, of more, in all, than five 
thousand leagues, for the most part on foot, with extreme fatigue, through 
snow and through water, without escort, without provisions, without 
bread, witliout wine, without recreation, and without repose. He has 
traversed more than six hundred leagues of country hitherto imknown, 
among savage and cannibal nations, against whom he must daily make 
fight, though accompanied only by thirty-six men, and consoled only by 
the hope of succeeding in an enterprise whicli he thought would be 
agreeable to his Majesty." 

See the original, as printed by Margry, Journal G^n&al de I' Instruction 
Publique, xxxi. 699. 



804 A NEW ENTEKPRISE. [1684. 

cannibals, at the cost of a hundred and fifty thou- 
sand crowns. He now proposes to return by way 
of the Gulf of Mexico to the countries lie has 
discovered, whence great benefits may be expected ; 
fu'st, the cause of God may be advanced by the 
preaching of the gospel to many Indian tribes ; 
and, secondly, great conquests may be effected for 
the glory of the king, by the seizure of provinces 
rich in silver mines, and defended only by a few 
indolent and effeminate Spaniards. The Sieur de 
la Salle, pursues the memorial, binds himself to 
accomplish this enterprise within one year after 
his arrival on the spot ; and he asks for this 
purpose only one vessel and two hundred men, 
with their arms, munitions, pay, and maintenance. 
When Monseigneur shall direct him, he will gi^-e 
the details of what he proposes. The memorial 
then describes the boundless extent, the fertility 
and resources of the country watered by the River 
Colbert, or Mississippi ; the necessity of guarding 
it against foreigners, who will be eager to seize it 
now that La Salle's discovery has made it known ; 
and the ease with which it may be defended by 
one or two forts at a proper distance above its 
mouth, which would form the key to an interior 
region eight hundred leagues in extent. " Should 
foreigners anticipate us," he adds, " they wall com- 
plete the ruin of New France, which they already 
hem in by their establishments of Virginia, Penn- 
sylvania, New England, and Hudson's Bay." ^ 

1 M^moire du S'"- de la SaJle, pour rendre compte a Monseigneur de Seig- 
nelay de la de'couverte qu'il afaile par I'ordre de sa Majest€, MS. 



1684.] LA SALLE'S PROPOSALS. 30a 

The second memorial is more explicit. The 
place, it says, which the Sieur de la Salle proposes 
to fortify, is on the E,iver Colbert, or Mississippi, 
sixty leagues above its mouth, where the land is 
very fertile, the climate very mild, and whence we, 
the French, may control the continent ; since, the 
river being narrow^ we could defend ourselves by 
means of fire-ships against a hostile fleet, while the 
position is excellent both for attacking an enemy 
or retreating in case of need. The neighboring 
Indians detest the Spaniards, but love the French, 
having been won over by the kindness of the Sieur 
de la Salle. AVe could form of them an army of 
more than fifteen thousand savages, who, supported 
by the French and Abenakis. followers of the Sieur 
de la Salle, could easily subdue the province of 
New Biscay (the most northern province of Mex- 
ico), where there are but four hundred Spaniards, 
more fit to work the mines than to fight. On the 
north of New Biscay lie vast forests, extending 
to the River Seignelay ^ (E,ed River), which is but 
forty or fifty leagues from the Spanish province. 
This river affords the means of attacking it to 
great advantage. 

In view of these facts, pursues the memorial, the 
Sieiu' de la Salle offers, if the war with Spain con- 
tinues, to undertake this conquest with two hundred 
men from France. He will take on his way fifty 
buccaneers at St. Domingo, and direct the four 

1 Tliis name, also given to the Elinois, is used to designate Red River 
on the map of FranqueUn, where the forests above mentioned are repre- 
sented. 

26* 



306 A NEW ENTERPRISE. 11684. 

thousand Indian warriors at Fort St. Louis of the 
Illmois to descend the river and join him. He 
will separate his force into three divisions, and 
attack on the same day the centre and the two 
extremities of the province. To accomplish this 
great design, he asks only for a vessel of thirty guns, 
a few cannon for the forts, and power to raise in 
France two hundred such men as he shall think 
fit, to be armed, paid, and maintained at the king's 
charge, for a term not exceeding a year, after which 
they will form a self-sustaining colony. And if a 
treaty of peace should prevent us from carrying 
our conquest into present execution, we shall place 
ourselves in a favorable position for effecting it on 
the outbreak of the next war with Spain.^ 

Such, in brief, was the substance of this sin- 
gular proposition. iVnd, first, it is to be observed 
that it is based on a geographical blunder, tlie 
nature of which is explained by the map of La 
Salle's discoveries made in this very year. Here, 
the River Seignelay, or Red River, is represented 
as running parallel to the northern border of Mexico, 
and at no great distance from it ; the region now 
called Texas being almost entirely suppressed. 
According to the map. New Biscay might be reached 
from this river in a few days ; and, after crossing the 
intervening forests, the coveted mines of Ste. Barbe, 
or Santa Barbara, would be within striking dis- 
tance.^ That La Salle believed in the possibility 

* M€moire du S^- cle la Salle sur I'Entreprise qu'il a propose a Mouseigneur 
.le Marquis de Seignelay sur une des provinces de Mexique, i\IS. 

2 Both tlie memorial and the map represent tlie l:;inks of Red River, 



1684.] THE SCHEME OF INVASION. 307 

of invading the Spanish province of New Biscay 
from the E,ed River, there can be no donbt ; neither 
can it reasonably be doubted that he hoped at some 
futui'e day to make the attempt ; and yet it is in- 
credible that he proposed his plan of conquest with 
the serious intention of attempting to execute it at 
the time and in the manner which he indicates. 
He was a bold schemer, but neither a madman nor 
a fool. The project, as set forth in his memorial, 
bears all the indications of being draAvn up with 
the view of producing a certain effect on the minds 
of the king and the minister. Ignorant as they 
were of the nature of the country and the char- 
acter of its inhabitants, they could see nothing 
impracticable in the plan of mustering and keeping 
together an army of fifteen thousand Indians.' 

La Salle's immediate necessity was to obtain from 
the court the means for establishing a fort and a 
colony within the mouth of the Mississippi. This 
was essential to his own commercial plans ; nor 

as inhabited by Indians, called Terliquiquimeclii, and known to the 
Sj)aniards as Indios hraroa, or Indios de guerra. Tiie Spaniards, it is 
added, were in great tear of them, as they made frequent inroads into 
Mexico. La Salle's Mexican geography was in all respects confused and 
erroneous; nor was Scignela}' better informed. Indeed, Spanish jealousy 
placed correct information beyond their reach. 

1 While the plan, as projjosed in the memorial, was clearly imprac- 
ticable, the subsequent exiicrionce of the French in Texas tended to prove 
that the tribes of that region could be used with advantage in attacking 
the Spaniards of Mexico, and that an inroad, on a comparatively small 
scale, might have been successfidly made with their help. In lt38'J, Tonty 
actually made the attempt, as we shall see, but failed from the desertion 
of his men. In 1697, the Sieur de Louvigny wrote to the Minister of the 
Marine, .asking to complete La Salle's discoveries, and invade Mexico 
from Texas. — Leltre de M. de Lonviyny, 14 Oct. 1697, MS. In an impub- 
lished memoir of the year 1700, the seizure of the Mexican mines is given 
aa one of the motives of the colonization of Louisiana. 



308 A NEW ENTERPRISr.. [1G84. 

did he in tlie least exaggerate the value of such an 
establishment to the French nation, and the im- 
portance of anticipating other powers in the posses- 
sion of it. But he needed a more glittering lure to 
attract the eyes of Louis and Seignelay ; and thus, 
it would appear, he held before them, in a definite 
and tangible form, the project of Spanish conquest 
which had haunted his imagination from youth, 
trusting that the speedy conclusion of peace, which 
actually took place, would absolve him from the 
immediate execution of the scheme, and give him 
time, with the means placed at his disposal, to 
mature his plans and prepare for eventual action. 
Such a procedure may be charged with indirectness ; 
but it was in accordance with the wily and poli- 
tic element from which the iron nature of La Salle 
was not free, but which was often defeated in its 
aims by other elements of his character. 

Even with this madcap enterprise lopped off, 
La Salle's scheme of Mississippi trade and coloniza- 
tion, perfectly sound in itself, Avas too vast for an 
individual ; above all, for one crippled and crushed 
with debt. While he grasped one link of the great 
chain, another, no less essential, escaped from his 
hand ; while he built up a colony on the Missis- 
sippi, it was reasonably certain that evil would 
befall his distant colony of the Illinois. 

The glittering project which he now unfolded 
found favor in the eyes of the king and the minis- 
ter ; for both were in the flush of an unparalleled 
success, and looked in the future, as in the past, for 
nothing but tri\mij)hs. They granted more than 



1G84.] LA BARRE REBUKED. 309 

the petitioner asked, as indeed they well might, 
if they expected the accomplishment of all that 
he proposed to attempt. La Forest, La Salle's lieu- 
tenant, ejected from Fort Frontenac by La Barre, 
was now at Paris ; and he was despatched to 
Canada, empowered to reoccupy, in La Salle's 
name, both Fort Frontenac and Fort St. Louis 
of the Illinois. The king himself wTote to La 
Barre in a strain that must have sent a cold thrill 
through the v^eins of that official. " I hear," he 
says, " that you have taken possession of Fort Fron- 
tenac, the property of the Sieur de la Salle, driven 
away his men, suffered his land to run to waste, 
and even told the Iroquois that they might seize 
him as an enemy of the colony." He adds, that, 
if this is true, he must make reparation for the 
wrong, and place all La Salle's property, as well 
as his men, in the hands of the Sieur de la Forest, 
" as I am satisfied that Fort Frontenac was not 
abandoned, as you wrote to me that it had been." ^ 
Four days later, he wrote to the Intendant of 
Canada, De Meules, to the effect that the bearer. 
La Forest, is to suffer no impediment, and that 
La Barre is to surrender to him, Avithout reserve, 
all that belongs to La Salle. ^ x\rmed with this 
letter, La Forest sailed for Canada.^ 

1 Lettre du lioij a la Barre, Versailles, 10 Avril, 1684, MS. 

2 Lettre du Roy a De Meules, Versailles, 14 Avril, 1684. Seignelay wrote 
to De Meules to the same effect. 

^ On La Forest's mission, — M€inoire pour representer a Monseirjneiir le 
Marquis de Seicjnelai/ la necessity d'envoyer le S^- de la Forest en diligence a 
la Nonvelle France, MS. ; Lettre du Hoy a la Bane, 14 Avril, 1684, MS. ; 
Ibid., 31 Oct. 1684, MS. 

There is before me a promissory note of La Salle to La Forest, of 5,200 



310 A NEW ENTERPRISE. [1684. 

La Salle had asked for two vessels,^ and four 
were given to him. Agents were sent to Rochelle 
and Rochefort to gather recruits. A hundred sol- 
diers were enrolled, besides mechanics and labor- 
ers ; and thirty volunteers, including gentlemen and 
burghers of condition, joined the expedition. And, 
as the plan was one no less of colonization than of 
war, several families embarked for the new land 
of promise, as well as a number of girls, lured by 
the prospect of almost certain matrimony. Nor 
were missionaries wanting. Among them was La 
Salle's brother, Cavelier, and two other priests of 
St. Sulpice. Three Recollets were added: Zenobe 
Membre, who was then in France ; Anastase 
Douay, and Maxime Le Clercq. Including sol- 
diers, sailors, and colonists of all classes, the num- 
ber embarked was about two hundred and eighty. 
The principal vessel was the " Joly," belonging to the 
royal navy, and carrying thirty-six guns. Another 
armed vessel of six guns was added, together with 
a store-ship and a ketch. 

In an evil hour, the naval command of the expe- 
dition was given to Beaujeu, a captain of the royal 
navy, who was subordinated to La Salle in every 

livres, dated at Rochelle, 17 July, 1684. Tliis seems to be pay due to La 
Forest, who liad served as La Salle's officer for nine years. A memoran- 
dum is attached, signed by La Salle, to the effect, that it is his wish that 
La Forest reimburse himself, " par preference," out of any property of his, 
La Salle's, in France or Canada. 

^ Le Sieiir de In Sulle deinande, MS. This is the caption of the memo- 
rial, in which he states what is required ; viz., a war vessel of thirty guns, 
pay and maintenance of two hundred men for a year at farthest, tools, 
munitions, cannon for the forts, a small ■vessel in pieces, the furniture of 
two chapels, a forge, with a supply of iron, weapons for his followers and 
allies, medicines, &c. 



1G84.1 DISCONTENT OF BEAUJEU. 311 

thinur but the manai>cment of the vessels at sea.* 
He had his full share of the arrogant and scornful 
spirit which marked the naval service of Louis 
XIV., joined to the contempt for commerce which 
belonged to the nohlesse of France, but which did 
not always prevent them from dabbling in it when 
they could do so with secrecy and profit. He was 
unspeakably galled that a civilian should be placed 
over him, and he, too, a burgher recently ennobled. 
La Salle was far from being the man to soothe his 
ruffled spirit. Bent on his own designs, asking no 
counsel, and accepting none ; detesting a divided 
authority, impatient of question, cold, reserved, and 
impenetrable, — he soon wrought his colleague to the 
highest pitch of exasperation. While the vessels 
still lay at Rochelle ; while all was bustle and prep- 
aration ; while stores, arms, and munitions were 
embarking ; while faithless agents were gathering 
beggars and vagabonds from the streets to serve as 
soldiers and artisans, — Beaujeu was giving vent to 
hi.-: diso-ust in lono' letters to the minister. 

He complains that the vessels are provisioned 
only for six months, and that the voyage to the 
river which La Salle claims to have discovered, 
and again back to France, cannot be made in that 
time. If La Salle had told him at the first what 
was to be done, he could have provided accord- 
ingly ; but now it is too late. ^' He says," pursues 
the indignant commander, " that there are fourteen 

* iMIre de Cachet a M"- de la Salle, Versailles, 12 Avril, 1684, st(jn€', 
Louis, MS. 



312 A NEW ENTERPRISE. [16&4. 

passengers, besides the Sieur Minet,^ to sit at my 
table. I hope that a fund will be provided for 
them, and that I shall not be required to support 
them." 

" You have ordered me, Monseigneur," he con- 
tinues, " to give all possible aid to this undertaking, 
and I shall do so to the best of my power ; but 
permit me to take great credit to myself, for I find 
it very hard to submit to the orders of the Sieur 
de la Salle, whom I believe to be a man of merit, 
but who has no experience of war, except with 
savages, and who has no rank, while I have been 
captain of a ship thu'teen years, and have served 
thirty, by sea and land. Besides, Monseigneur, he 
has told me that, in case of his death, you have 
directed that the Sieur de Tonty shall succeed him. 
This, indeed, is very hard ; for, though I am not 
acquainted with that country, I should be very 
dull, if, being on the spot, I did not know, at the 
end of a month, as much of it as they do. I beg, 
Monseigneur, that I may at least share the com- 
mand with them ; and that, as regards war, nothing 
may be done without my knowledge and concur- 
rence ; for, as to their commerce, I neither intend 
nor desire to know any thing about it."^ 

In another letter, he says : " He [La Salle] is so 
suspicious, and so fearful that somebody will pen- 
etrate his secrets, that I dare not ask him any 
thing." And, again, he complains of being placed 
in subordination to a man " who never commanded 

^ One of the engineers of the expedition. 

2 Lettre de Beaujeu au Minislre, Rochelle, 30 Mai, 1684, MS. 



1684.] JOUTEL. 313 

anybody but school-boys." ' " I pray," he continues, 
" thnt my orders may be distinct and explicit, that 
I may not be held answerable for what may happen 
in consequence of the Sieur de la Salle's exercising 
command." 

He soon fell into a dispute with him with respect 
ro the division of command on board the " Joly," 
Beaujeu demanding, and it may be thought with 
good reason, that, when at sea, his authority 
should include all on board ; while La Salle in- 
sisted that only the sailors, and not the soldiers, 
should be under his orders. " Though this is a 
very important matter," writes Beaujeu, " Ave have 
not quarrelled, but have referred it to the In- 
tendant." ^ 

While these ill-omened bickering's went on, the 
various members of the expedition were mustering 
at llochelle. Joutel, a fellow-townsman of La 
Salle, returning to his native Rouen, after sixteen 
years of service in the army, found all astir with 
the new project. His father had been gardener to 
La Salle's uncle, Henri Cavelier ; ^ and, being of an 
adventurous spirit, he was induced to volunteer for 

^ " Qui n'a jamais commando qu'ii des ecolicrs." — Leltre de Bpntijon 
.m Mini/^lre, 21 .luin, 1G84, MS. It appears from Hennepin tliat La Salle 
was very sensitive to any allusion to a " pedant," or peilagoi^iie. 

- Lettre de Beaujeu att }fiiiislre, 25 Juin, 1G84, IMS. Arnoult, the Tn- 
tendant at Roclielle, Iiad received tlie kind's orders to aid the cnU'r[)rise. 
In a letter to La Salle, dated 14 April, and enclosing his connnission, the 
king tells him that Beaujeu is to command the working of the ship, la 
manoeuvre, subject to his direction. Louis XIV. seems to have taken no 
little interest in the enterprise. He tells La Barre in one of his letters 
that La Salle is a man whom he has taken under his s])ecial i)n)U'ctii)n. 

3 At the modest wages of fitty francs a year and his maintenance. — 
Family papers found by Margry. 

27 



314 A NEW ENTERPRISE. [1684. 

the enterprise, of which he was to become the his- 
torian. With La Salle's brother, the priest, and 
two of his nephews, of whom one was a boy of 
fourteen, besides several others of his acquaintance, 
Joutel set out for Rochelle, where all were to em- 
bark together for their promised land.* 

1 Joutel, Journal Historique, 12. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

1G84-1685. 

LA SALLE IN TEXAS. 

Dei'Arture. — Quarrels with Beaujeu. — St. Domingo. — La SALLh 

ATTACKED WITH FeVER. — HiS DESPERATE CONDITION. — TlIE GOLF OP 

Mexico. — A Fatal Error. — Landing. — Wreck of the " Aijiable." 
— Lndian Attack. — Tueachkry of Beaujeu. — Omens of Dis- 
aster. 

The four ships sailed on the twenty-fourth of 
July ; but the " Joly " soon broke her bowsprit, and 
they were forced to put back.^ On the first of 
August, they again set sail. La Salle, with the 
principal persons of the expedition, and a crowd of 
soldiers, artisans, and women, the destined mothers 
of Louisiana, Avere all on board the " Joly." Beau- 
jeu wished to touch at Madeira : La Salle, for 
excellent reasons, refused; and hence there was 
f^ieat indignation among passengers and crew. 
The surgeon of the ship spoke with insolence to 
La Salle, who rebuked him, whereupon Beaujeu 
took up the word in behalf of the offender, saying 
that the surgeon was, like himself, an officer of the 

^ La Salle believed that this mishap, which took place in good 
weatlier, was intentional. — Memoiie autoijmphe de I'Abb^ Jean Cauclitr sur 
h Voyage de 1684, MS. Compare Joutel, 15. 



316 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1684 

king.' When they crossed the tropic, the sailors 
made ready a tub on deck to baptize the passengers, 
after the villanous practice of the time ; but La Salle 
refused to permit it, to the disappointment and 
wrath of all the crew, who had expected to extort 
a bountiful ransom, in money and liquor, from their 
victims. There was an incessant chafing between 
the two commanders ; and when at length, after a 
long and wretched voyage, they reached St. Do- 
mingo, Beaujeu showed clearly that he was, to say 
the least, utterly indifferent to the interests of the 
expedition. La Salle wished to stop at Port de 
Paix, where he was to meet the Marquis de St. 
Laurent, Lieutenant- General of the Islands ; Begon, 
the Intendant; and De Cussy, Governor of the 
Island of La Tortue, — who had orders from the 
king to supply him with provisions, and give him 
all possible assistance. Beaujeu had consented to 
stop here ; ^ but he nevertheless ran by the place 
in the night, and, to the extreme vexation of La 
Salle, cast anchor on the twenty-seventh of Sep- 
tember, at Petit Goave, on the other side of the 
island. 

The " Joly " was alone ; the other vessels had 
lagged behind. She had more than fifty sick men 

1 " Le capitaine du batinient, qui avait en deux autres occasions assez 
f-iit connoitre qu'il c'toit nio'coiitent de ce que son autoritc e'toit partage'e, 
prit la parole, disant au dit S''- de la Salle que le cliiiur<];ien c'toit officier 
du roi comma lui." — Memoire an/cymji/ie de I'Alibe'Jean Cucelier, MS. 

2 " C'est Ik (au Port de Paix) ou M''- de Beaujeu etait convenu de 
g'arreter." — Memoire aato/jniplie de I' Abbe' Jean Cavelier. Joutel saj's that 
tliis was resolved on at a council held on board the " Joly," and that a 
Proces Verbal to that effect was drawn up. — Journal Ilislorique, 22. 



1684.] ILLNESS OF LA SALLE. 311 

on board, and La Salle was of the number. He 
despatched a messenger to St. Laurent, Begon, and 
Cussy, begging them to join him, commissioned 
Joutel to get the sick ashore, suffocating as they 
were in the hot and crowded ship, and caused the 
soldiers to be landed on a small island in the harbor. 
Scarcely had the voyagers sung Te Deum for their 
safe arrival, when two of the lagging vessels ap- 
peared, bringing the disastrous tidings that the third, 
the ketch " St. Francois," had been taken by the 
Spaniards. She was laden with munitions, tools, 
and other necessaries for the colony ; and the loss 
was irreparable. Beaujeu was answerable for it ; 
for, had he followed his instructions, and anchored 
at Port de Paix, it would not have occurred. The 
Lieutenant-General, with Begon and Cussy, who 
had arrived, on La Salle's request, plainly spoke 
then* minds to him.^ 

Meanwhile, La Salle's illness rose to a violent 
fever. He lay delirious in a wretched garret in 
the town, attended by his brother, and one or two 
others who stood faithful to him. A goldsmith of 
the neighborhood, moved at his deplorable con- 
dition, offered the use of his house ; and the Abbe 
Cavelier had him removed thither. But there was 
a tavern hard by, and the patient was tormented 
with daily and nightly riot. At the height of the 
fever, a party of Beaujeu's sailors spent a night 
in singing and dancing before the house ; and, says 
Cavelier, " The more we begged them to be quiet, 

1 Joutel, Journal Historique, 28. 
27* 



318 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1684. 

the more noise they made." La Salle lost reason 
and well-nigh life ; but at length his mind resumed 
its balance, and the violence of the disease abated. 
A. friendly Capucin friar offered him the shelter 
of his roof; and two of his men supported him 
thither on foot, giddy with exhaustion and hot with 
fever. Here he found repose, and was slowly re- 
covering, when some of his attendants rashly told 
him of the loss of the ketch " St. Francois ; " and the 
consequence was a critical return of the disease,^ 

There was no one to fill his place ; Beaujeu 
would not ; Cavelier could not. Joutel, the gar- 
dener's son, was apparently the most trusty man 
of the company ; but the expedition was virtually 
without a head. The men roamed on shore, and 
plunged into every excess of debauchery, contract- 
ing diseases which eventually killed them. 

Beaujeu, in the extremity of ill humor, resumed 
his correspondence with Seignelay. " But for the 
illness of the Sieur de la Salle," he writes, " I 
could not venture to report to you the progress of 
our voyage, as I am charged only with the navi- 
gation, and he with the secrets ; but as his malady 
has deprived him of the use of his faculties, both 
of body and mind, I have thought myself obliged 
to acquaint you with what is passing, and of the 
rondition in which we are." 

He then declares that the ships freighted by La 
Salle were so slow, that the " Joly" had continually 
been forced to wait for them, thus doubling the 

i The above particulars are from the unpublished memoir of La Salle-'s 
brother, the Abbe Cavelier, already cited. 



1684.] COMrLAINTS OF BEAUJEU. 319 

length of the voyage ; that he had not had water 
enough for the passengers, as La Salle had not told 
him that there were to be any such till the day 
they came on board ; that great numbers were sich, 
and that he had told La Salle there would be 
trouble, if he filled all the space between decks 
with his goods, and forced the soldiers and sailors 
to sleep on deck ; that he had told him he would 
get no provisions at St. Domingo, but that he in- 
sisted on stopping ; that it had always been so ; 
that, whatever he proposed, La Salle would refuse, 
alleging orders from the king ; " and now," pursues 
the ruffled commander, " everybody is ill ; and he 
himself has a violent fever, as dangerous, the sur- 
geon tells me, to the mind as to the body." 

The rest of the letter is in the same strain. He 
says that a day or two after La Salle's illness began, 
his brother Cavelier came to ask him to take 
charge of his affairs ; but that he did not wish to 
meddle with them, especially as nobody knows 
any thing about them, and as La Salle has sold 
some of the ammunition and provisions ; that Cav- 
elier tells him that he thinks his brother keeps no 
accounts, wishing to hide his affairs from every- 
body ; that he learns from buccaneers that the 
entrance of the Mississippi is very shallow and 
difficult, and that this is the worst season for navi- 
gating the Gulf; that the Spaniards have in these 
seas six vessels of from thirty to sixty guns each, 
besides row-galleys ; but that he is not afraid, and 
will perish, or bring back an account of the Missis- 
sippi. " Nevertheless." he adds, " if the Sieur de 



320 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1684. 

la Salle dies, T shall pursue a course different from 
that which he has marked out ; for his plans are 
not good." 

" If," he continues, " you permit me to speak my 
mind, M. de la Salle ought to have been satisfied 
Avith discovering his river, without undertaking to 
conduct three vessels with troops two thousand 
leagues through so many different climates, and 
across seas entirely unknown to him. I grant that 
he is a man of knowledge ; that he has reading, 
and even some tincture of navigation ; but there is 
so much difference between theory and practice, 
that a man who has only the former will always 
be at fault. There is also a great difference be- 
tween conducting canoes on lakes and along a 
river, and navigating ships with troops on distant 
oceans." ^ 

It was near the end of November before La Salle 
could resume the voyage. Beaujeu had been heard 
to say, that he would wait no longer for the store- 
ship " Aimable," and that she might follow as she 
could.^ La Salle feared that he would abandon 
her; and he therefore -embarked in her himself, 
with his friend Joutel, his brother Cavelier, Mem- 

1 " Si vous me permettez de dire mon sentiment, M. de la Salle de- 
vait se contenter d'avoir decouver,t sa riviere, sans se charger de conduire 
trois vaisseaux et des troupes a deux mille lieues au travcrs de taut de 
climats difFc'rents et par des raers qui lui ctaient tout a fait inconnues. Je 
demeure d'accord qu'il est savant, qu'il a de la lecture, ct mome quelque 
teinture de la navigation. Mais il y a tant de difference entre la the'orie 
et la pratique, qu'un homme qui n'aura que celle-la s'y trompera toujours. 
II y a aussi bien de la diffe'rence entre conduire des canots sur des lacs et 
le long d'nne riviere et mener des vaisseaux et des troupes dans des mere 
si eloigne'es." — Lettre de Bmiifm au Ministre, 20 Oct. 1G84, MS. 

2 Me'inoire autographe de l' Abbe Jean Cavelier, MS. 



1684.] THE GULF OF MEXICO. 321 

bre, Douay, and others, the trustiest of his fol- 
lowers. On the twenty-fifth, they set sail ; the 
" Joly " and the little frigate " Belle " following. 
They coasted the shore of Cuba, and landed at the 
Isle of Pines, where La Salle shot an alligator,, 
which the soldiers ate ; and the hunters brought 
in a wild pig, half of which he sent to Beaujeu. 
Then they advanced to Cape St. Antoine, where 
bad weather and contrary winds long detained 
them. A load of cares oppressed the mind of La 
Salle, pale and haggard with recent illness, wrapped 
within his own thoughts, seeking sympathy from 
none. The feud of the two commanders still ran- 
kled beneath the veil of formal courtesy with 
which men of the world hide their dislikes and 
enmities. 

At length, they entered the Gulf of Mexico, that 
forbidden sea, whence by a Spanish decree, dating 
from the reign of Philip II., all foreigners were 
excluded on pain of extermination.' Not a man 
on board knew the secrets of its perilous naviga- 
tion. Cautiously feeling their way, they held a 
northerly course, till, on the twenty-eighth of De- 
cember, a sailor at the mast-head of the " Airaable" 
saw land. La Salle and all the pilots had been 
led to form an exaggerated idea of the force of 
the easterly currents ; and they therefore supposed 
themselves near the Bay of Appalache, when, in 
fact, they were much farther westward. At their 
right lay a low and sandy shore, washed by break- 

' Letter of Don Luis de Onis to tlie Secretary of State, American State 
Papers, xii. 27, 31. 



322 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1G85. 

ers, which made the landmg dangerous. La Salle 
had taken the latitude of the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, but could not determine the longitude. On 
the sixth of January, the "Aimable" seems to 
have been very near it ; but his attempts to recon- 
noitre the shore were frustrated by the objections 
of the pilot of the vessel, to which, with a fatal 
facility, very unusual with him, he suffered himself 
to yield.^ Still convinced that the Mississippi was 
to the westward, he coasted the shores of Texas. 
As Joutel, with a boat's crew, was vainly trying to 
land, a party of Indians swam out through the surf, 
and were taken on board ; but La Salle could learn 
nothing from them, as their language was wholly 
unknown to him. The coast began to trend south- 
ward. They saw that they had gone too far. 
Joutel again tried to land, but the surf that lashed 
the sand-bars deterred him. He approached as 
near as he dared, and, beyond the intervening 
breakers, saw vast plains and a dim expanse of 
forests ; the shaggy buffalo running with their 
heavy gallop along the shore, and troops of deer 
grazing on the marshy meadows. 

A few days after, he succeeded in reaching the 
shore at a point not far south of Matagorda Bay. 
The aspect of the country was not cheering ; sandy 
plains and shallow ponds of salt water, full of 
wild ducks and other fowl. The sand Avas thickly 

1 Joutel, 45. He places the date on the tenth, but elsewhere corrects 
himself La Salle himself says, "La hauteur nous a fait reiuarquer . . . 
que ce que nous avons vue, le sixienie Janvier, estoit en effet la principale 
entree de la riviere que nous cherchions." — Lettre de la Salle au Ministre, 
4 Mars, 1G85. 



1686.] BEHAVTOK OF BEAUJEU. 323 

Riarkcd '.vith the hoof prints of deer and biifFalo ; 
and they saw them in the distance, but could kill 
none. They had been for many days separated 
from the " Joly," when at length, to La Salle's great 
relief, she hove in sight ; but his joy was of short 
duration. Beaujeu sent D'Aire, his lieutenant, on 
board the " xiimable," to charge La Salle with 
having deserted him. The desertion in fact was 
his own ; for he had stood out to sea, instead of 
coasting the shore, according to the plan agreed 
on. Now ensued a discussion as to their position. 
Had they in fact passed the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi ; and, grantini? that they had, how far had 
they left it behind] La Salle was confident that 
they had passed it on the sixth of January, and 
he urged Beaujeu to turn back with him in quest 
of it. Beaujeu replied that he had not provisions 
enough, and must return to France without delay, 
unless La Salle would supply him from his own 
stores. La Salle offered him provisions for fifteen 
days, which Avas more than enough for the additional 
time required ; but Beaujeu remained perverse and 
impracticable', and would neither consent nor re- 
fuse. La Salle's men beguiled the time with 
hunting on shore ; and he had the courtesy, very 
creditable under the circumstances, to send a share 
of the game to his colleague. 

Time wore on. La Salle grew impatient, and 
landed a party of men, under his nephew Moran- 
get and his townsman Joutel, to explore the adjacent 
shores. They made their way on foot northward 
and eastward for several days, till they were stopped 



324 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. '1685. 

by a river too wide and deep to cross. They en- 
camped, and were making a canoe, when, to their 
great joy, for they were famishing, they descried 
the ships, which had followed them along the coast. 
Ija Salle landed, and became convinced — his wish, 
no doubt, fathering the thought — that the river 
was no other than the stream now called Bayou 
Lafourche, which forrns a western mouth of the 
Mississippi.' lie thought it easier to ascend by 
this passage than to retrace his course along the 
coast, against the winds, the currents, and the ob- 
stinacy of Beaujeu. Eager, moreover, to be rid of 
that refractory commander, he resolved to disem- 
bark his followers, and despatch the " Joly " back 
to France. 

The Bay of St. Louis, now Matagorda Bay,'^ 

1 La Salle dates his letter to Selgnelay, of the fourth of March : " A 
r embouchure occidentiile dujieuve Colbert" (Mississippi). He says, " La saison 
e'tant tres-avancee, et voyant qu'il mo restoit fort peu de temps pour 
achever I'entreprise dont j'estois cliarge, je ro'solus de remonter co canal du 
tieuve Colbert, plus tost que de retounicr au plus considerable, cloigne de 
25 a 30 lieues d'icy vers le nord-est, que nous avions remarque des le 
sixicme Janvier, mais que nous n'avions pu reconnoistre, croyant sur le 
rapport des pilotes du vaisseau de sa Majeste et des npstres, n'avoir pas 
encore passe la baye du Saint-Ksprit" (Mobile Bay). He adds that the 
difficulty of retui-ning to the principal mouth of the Mississippi had caused 
him " prendre le party de remonter le fleuve par icy." This fully ex- 
plains the reason of La Salle's landing on the coast of Texas, which would 
otherwise have been a postponement, not to say an abandonment, of the 
main object of the enterprise. He believed liimself at the western mouth 
of the Mississippi ; and he meant to ascend it, instead of going by sea to the 
principal mouth. About half the length of Bayou Lafourche is laid down 
on Franquelin's map of 1(584 ; and this, together with La Salle's letter and 
the statements of Joutel, plainly shows the nature of his error. 

'^ Tiie St. Bernard's Bay of old maps. La Salle, in his letter to Seig- 
nelay of 4 March, says, tliat it is in latitude twenty-eight degrees and 
eighteen or twenty minutes. Tliis answers to the entrance of Matagorda 
Bay. 

In the Archives de la Marine is preserved a map made by an engineer 



1685.1 ALARM FROM INDIANS. 325 

forms a broad and sheltered harbor, accessible 
from the sea by a narrow passage, obstructed by 
sand-bars, and by the small island now called 
Pelican Island. La Salle prepared to disembark 
on the western shore, near the place which now 
bears his name ; and, to this end, the " Aimable " 
and the " Belle " must be brought over the bar. 
Boats were sent to sound and buoy out the channel, 
and this was successfully accomplished on the six- 
teenth of February. The " Aimable " was ordered 
to enter; and, on the twentieth, she weighed anchor. 
La Salle was on shore watching her. A party of 
men, at a little distance, were cutting down a tree 
to make a canoe. Suddenly, some of them ran 
towards him with terrified faces, crying out that 
they had been set upon by a troop of Indians, who 
had seized their companions and carried them off. 
La Salle ordered those about him to take their 
arms, and at once set out in pursuit. He overtook 
the Indians, and opened a parley with them ; but 
when he wished to reclaim his men, he discovered 
that they had been led away during the conference 
to the Indian camp, a league and a half distant. 
Among them was one of his lieutenants, the young 
Marquis de la Sablonniere. He was deeply "vexed, 
for the moment was critical ; but the men must be 

of the expedition, inscribed Afiniitj/ del, and entitled Entree da lac oii on 
a laiss^ le Sieitr de la Snlle. It represents the entrance of Matagorda 
Bay, the camp of La Salle on the left, the Indian camps on the borders of 
the bay, the "Belle" lying safely at anchor within, the "Aimable" 
stranded near the island at the entrance, and the " Joly " anchored in the 
open sea. 

At Versailles, Salle des Marines, there is a good modern picture of 
the landing of La Salle in Texas. 

28 



326 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [IGSS. 

recovered, and he led his followers in haste towards 
the camp. Yet he could not refrain from turning 
a moment to watch the " Aim able," as she neared 
the shoals ; and he remarked with deep anxiety to 
Joutel, who was with him, that if she held that 
course she would soon be aground. 

They hurried on till they saw the Indian huts. 
About fifty of them, oven-shaped, and covered with 
mats and hides, were clustered on a rising ground, 
with their inmates gathered among and around 
them. As the French entered the camp, there 
was the report of a cannon from the seaward. 
The startled savages dropped flat with terror. A 
different fear seized La Salle, for he knew that the 
shot was a signal of disaster. Looking back, he 
saw the " Aimable " furling her sails, and his heart 
sank with the conviction that she had struck upon 
the reef. Smothering his distress, — she was laden 
with all the stores of the colony, — he pressed for- 
ward among the filthy wigwams, whose astonished 
inmates swarmed about the band of armed strangers, 
staring between curiosity and fear. La Salle knew 
those with whom he was dealing, and, without 
ceremony, entered the chief's lodge with his fol- 
lowers. The crowd closed around them, naked 
men and half-naked women, described by Joutel 
as of a singular ugliness. They gave buffalo-meat 
and dried porpoise to the unexpected guests ; but 
La Salle, racked with anxiety, hastened to close 
the interview ; and, having without difficulty re- 
covered the kidnapped men, he returned to the 
beach, leaving with the Indians, as usual, an im- 
pression of good-will and respect. 



IGS,-)] WKECK OF THE "AIMABLE. 327 

When he reuclicd the shore, he saw his worst 
fears realized. The " Aimable " hiy careened over 
on the reef, hopelessly aground. Little remained 
but to endure the calamity with firmness, and to 
save, as far as might be, the vessel's cargo. This 
was no easy task. The boat which hung at her stern 
had been stove in, — it is said, by design. Beau- 
jeu sent a boat from the " Joly," and one or more 
Indian pirogues were procured. La Salle urged 
on his men with stern and patient energy ; a quan- 
tity of gunpowder and flour was safely landed ; but 
now the wind blew fresh from the sea, the waves 
began to rise, a storm came on, the vessel, rocking 
to and fro on the sand-bar, opened along her side, 
the ravenous waves were strewn with her treasures ; 
and, when the confusion was at its height, a troop 
of Indians came down to the shore, greedy for 
plunder. The drum was beat ; the men Avere 
called to arms ; La Salle set his trustiest followers 
to guard the gunpowder, in fear, not of the Indians 
alone, but of his own countrymen. On that lam- 
entable uight, the sentinels walked their rounds 
through the dreary bivouac among the casks, bales, 
and boxes which the sea had yielded up ; and 
here, too, their fate-hunted chief held his drearier 
vigil, encompassed with treachery, darkness, and 
the storm. 

Those who have recorded the disaster of the 
" Aimable " affirm that she was wilfully wrecked,^ 

1 Tliis is said by Joutcl and Le Clercq, and by La Salle himself, in Iiis 
letter to Seij;nelay, •! March, llJSo, as well as in the account of the wreck 
drawn up officially. — Piociis verbal da Sicur de la iSalle sur le naufnuje de la 



328 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1685. 

an atrocious act of revenge against a man whose 
many talents often bore for him no other fruit 
than the deadly one of jealousy and- hate. 

The neighboring Bracamos Indians still hovered 
about them, with very doubtful friendship ; and, a 
few days after the wreck, the prairie was seen on 
fire. As the smoke and flame rolled towards them 
before the wind. La Salle caused all the grass about 
the camp to be cut and carried away, and especially 
around the spot where the powder was placed. The 
danger was averted ; but it soon became known that 
the Indians had stolen a number of blankets and 
other articles, and carried them to their wigwams. 
Unwilling to leave his camp, La Salle sent his 
nephew Moranget and several other volunteers, 
with a party of men, to reclaim them. They went 
up the bay in a boat, landed at the Indian camp, 
and, with more mettle than discretion, marched into 
it, sword in hand. The Indians ran off, and the rash 
adventurers seized upon several canoes as an equiva- 
lent for the stolen goods. Not knowing how to 
manage them, they made slow progress on their way 
back, and were overtaken by night before reaching 
the French camp. They landed, made a fire, placed 



Jlute. rAiinabh "t l' embouchure du Fleuve Colbeii., ]\IS. He charges it, as do also 
theotliers,iiponAigron, the pilot of the vessel, the same wjio had prevented 
him from exploring the mouth of the Mississippi on the sixth of January. 
The charges are supported by explicit statements, which render tliem 
probable. The loss was very great, including nearly all the beef and 
other provisions, GO barrels of wine, 4 pieces of cannon, 1,020 balls, 400 
grenades, 4,000 pounds of iron, 5,000 pounds of lead, most of the black- 
smith's and carpenter's tools, a forge, a mill, cordage, boxes of arms, 
nearly all the medicines, most of the baggage of the soldier? and cole- 
uists, and a variety of miscellaneous goods. 



1685.] THE ABANDONED COLONY. ;329 

a sentinel, and lay down on the dry grass to sleep. 
The sentinel followed their example ; when sud- 
denly they were awakened by the war-whoop and 
a shower of arrows. Two volunteers, Oris and 
Desloges, were killed on the spot ; a third, named 
Gayen, was severely wounded ; and young Moranget 
received an arrow through the arm. He leaped up 
and fired his gun at the vociferous but invisible foe. 
Others of the party did the same, and the Indians 
fled. 

This untoward incident, joined to the loss of the 
store-ship, completed the discouragement of some 
among the colonists. Several of them, including 
one of the priests and the engineer Minet, declared 
their intention of returning home with Beaujeu, who 
apparently made no objection to receiving them 
He now declared that since the Mississippi was 
found, his work was done, and he would return 
to France. La Salle desired that he would first 
send on shore the cannon-balls and stores embarked 
for the use of the colony. Beaujeu refused, on the 
ground that they were stowed so deep in the hold 
that to take them out would endanger the ship. 
The excuse is itself a confession of gross mis- 
management, llemonstrance would have availed 
little. Beaujeu spread his sails and departed, and 
the wretched colony was left to its fate. 

Was Beaujeu deliberately a traitor, or was his 
conduct merely a result of jealousy and pique ? 
There can be little doubt that he was guilty of pre- 
meditated bad faith. There is evidence tliat he 
knew the expedition to have passed the true mouth 

28* 



330 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. |1G85. 

of the Mississippi, -and that, after leading La Salle, 
he sailed in search of it, found it, and caused a 
map to be made of it.^ 

A lonely sea, a wild and desolate shore, a weary 
waste of marsh and prairie ; a rude redoubt of 
drif"t-wood, and the fragments of a wreck ; a few 
tents, ai'd a few wooden hovels ; bales, boxes, casks, 
spars, dismounted cannon, Indian canoes, a pen for 
fowls and swine, groups of dejected men and de- 
sjionding, homesick women, — this was the forlorn 
reality to which the air-blown fabric of an audacious 
enterprise had sunk. Here were the conquerors 
of New Biscay ; they who were to hold for France 
a region as large as the half of Europe. Here 
was the tall form and the fixed calm features of 
La Salle. Here were his two nephews, the hot- 
headed Moranget, still suffering from his wound, 
and the younger Cavelier, a mere school-boy. Con 
spicuous only by his Franciscan garb was the small 
slight figure of Zenobe Membre. His brother friar, 
Anastase Douay ; the trusty Joutel, a man of sensf 



1 This map, tlic work of the engineer Minet, bears tlie date of ^h'lii, 
1685. La Salle's last letter to the minister, which he sent home hyBcau- 
jeu, is dated Jlarch 4th. Hence, Beaiijeii, in spite of his alleged want of 
provisions, seems to liave remained some time in the Gulf. The si>:ni- 
ficance of the map consists in two distinct sketclies of the mouth of tlie 
Mississi])i>i, which is styled " La Riviere du S''de la Salle." Against one 
of these sketches are written the words " Embouchure de la riviere 
comiue jM. de la Saiie la marque dans sa carte." Against the other, " Costes 
et lacs par la hauteur de sa riviijre, coiinue noits les aeons irouve's." The italics 
are mine. Both sketches plainly represent the mouth of the Mississippi, 
and tiie river as high as New Orleans, with the Indian villages upon it. 
The coast line is also indicated as far east as Mobile Bay. My attention 
was first (h-awn to this map by M. Margry. It is in the Archives Scienti- 
fiques de la Marine. 



1G85.] . INDIAN ENEMIES. 331 

and observation ; the Marquis de la Sablonniere, a 
debauched noble whose patrimony was his sword ; 
and a few of less mark, — comprised the leaders of 
the infant colony. The rest were soldiers, recruited 
from the scum of llochclle and Rochefort ; and arti- 
sans, of whom the greater part knew nothing of 
their pretended vocation. iVdd to these the misera 
ble families and the infiituated young women, who 
had come to tempt fortune in the swamps and 
cane-brakes of the Mississippi. 

La Salle set out to explore the neighborhood. 
Joutel remained in command of the so-called fort. 
He was beset with wily enemies, and often at night 
the Indians would crawl in the grass around his 
feeble stockade, howling like wolves ; but a few 
shots would put them to flight. A strict guard was 
kept, and a wooden horse was set in the enclosure, 
to punish the sentinel who should sleep at his post. 
They stood in daily fear of a more formidable foe, 
and once they saw a sail, which they doubted not 
was Spanish ; but she happily passed without dis- 
covering them. They hunted on the prairies, and 
speared fish in the neighboring pools. On Easter 
day, the Sieur le Gros, one of the chief men of 
the company, went out after the service to shoot 
snipes ; but, as he walked barefoot through the 
marsh, a snake bit him, and he soon after died. 
Two men deserted, to starve on the prairie, or to 
become savages among savages. Others tried to 
escape, but were caught ; and one of them was 
hung. A knot of desperadoes conspired to kill 
Joutel ; but one of them betrayed the secret, and 
the nlot was crushed. 



332 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1685 

La Salle returned from his journey. He had 
made an ominous discovery ; for he had at length 
become convinced that he was not, as he had fondly 
hoped, on an arm of the Mississippi. The wreck 
of the " Aimable " itself was not pregnant with con- 
sequences so disastrous. A deep gloom gathered 
around the colony. There was no hope but in the 
energies of its unconquerable chief. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

1685-1687. 
ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. 

TnK Fort. — JIisery and Dejectfon. — Energy op La Salle. — His 
JocRNET OF Exploration. — Duhaut. — Indian Massacre. — Return 
OF La Salle. — A New Calamity. — A Desperate Resolutiun. — 
Departure for Canada. — Wreck of the "Belle." — Marriage. — 
Sedition. — Adventures of La Salle's Party. — The Cenis. — The 
Cam.\nchks. — The Only Hope. —The Last Farewell. 

Of what avail to plant a colony by the mouth of 
a petty Texan river ? The Mississippi was the life 
of the enterprise, the condition of its growth and 
of its existence. Without it, all was futile and 
raeaningless ; a folly and a ruin. Cost what it 
might, the Mississippi must be found. 

But the demands of the hour were imperative. 
The hapless colony, cast ashore like a wreck on the 
sands of Matagorda Bay, must gather up its shat- 
tered resoiu'ces, and recruit its exhausted strength, 
before it essayed anew its desperate pilgrimage to 
the " fatal river." La Salle during his explorations 
had found a spot which he thought well fitted for 
a temporary establishment. It was on the river 
which he named the La Vache,^ now the Lavaca, 

1 Called by Joutel Riviere aux Boeufs. 



334 ST. LOUIS OF TKXAS. [1685. 

»T i_Ll^LX CXXCC LO LAAO XAAwtiV^ \J1 *>J- C4,l/t.ic^ O A Lt.LV J_/t*J 9 i^llU 

thither he ordered all the women and children, 
and most of the men, to remove ; while the 
remnant, thirty in number, remained with Jontel 
at the fort near the mouth of the bay. Here they 
spent their time in huntmg, fishing, and squaring 
the logs of drift-wood, Avhich the sea washed up in 
abundance, and which La Salle proposed to use 
in building his new station on the Lavaca. Thus 
the time passed till midsummer, when Joutel re- 
ceived orders to abandon his post, and rejoin the 
main body of the colonists. To this end, the little 
frigate " Belle " was sent down the bay to receive 
him and his men. She was a gift from the king 
to La Salle, who had brought her safely over the 
bar, and regarded her as a main-stay of his hopes. 
She now took Joutel and his men on board, together 
with the stores which had remained in their charge, 
and conveyed them to the site of the new fort on 
the Lavaca. Here Joutel found a state of thinss 
that was far from cheering. Crops had been 
sown, but the drought and the cattle had nearly 
destroyed them. The colonists were lodged under 
tents and hovels ; and the only solid structure was 
a small square enclosure of pickets, in which the 
gunpoAvder and the brandy were stored. The site 
was good, a rising ground by the river ; but there 
was no wood within the distance of a league, and 
no horses or oxen to drag it. Their work must be 
done by men. Some felled and squared the timber ; 
and others dragged it by main force over the mat- 
ted grass of the prairie, under the scorching Texan 



1685.] GLOOMY PROSPECTS. 335 

sun. The gun-carriages served to make the task 
somewhat easier ; yet the strongest men soon gave 
out under it. Joutel went down in the " Belle " to 
the fii'st fort, and brought up the timber collected 
there, which proved a most seasonable and usolul 
supply. Palisades and buildings began to rise. 
The men labored without spirit, yet strenuousl) ; 
for they labored under the eye of La Salle. The 
carpenters brought from Rochelle proved worth- 
less, and he himself made the plans of the work, 
marked out the tenons and mortises, and directed 
the whole. ^ 

Death, meanwhile, made a withering havoc among 
his followers ; and under the sheds and hovels that 
shielded them from the sun lay a score of wretches 
slowly wasting away with the diseases contracted 
at St. Domingo. Of the soldiers enlisted for the 
expedition by La Salle's agents, many are affirmed 
to have spent their lives in begging at the church 
doors of Rochefort, and were consequently incapa- 
ble of discipline. It was impossible to prevent 
either them or the sailors from devouring persim- 
mons and other wild fruits to a destructive excess.^ 
Nearl} all fell ill ; and, before the summer had 
passed, the graveyard had more than thirty ten- 
ants.^ The bearinar of La Salle did not aid to raise 
the drooping spirits of his followers. The results 
of the enterprise had been far different from his 



^ Joutel, 108 Pnces Verbal fait au postede St. Louis le 18 Avril, 108G 
MS. 

2 Ibid. 

3 Joutel, 109. Le Clercq, who was not present, says a hundred. 



336 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1685. 

hopes ; and, after a season of flattering promise, 
he had entered again on those dark and obstructed 
paths which seemed his destined way of hfe. The 
present was beset with trouble ; the future, thick 
with storms. The consciousness quickened his 
energies ; but it made him stern, harsh, and often 
unjust to those beneath him. 

Joutel was returning to camp one afternoon with 
the master-carpenter, when they saw game, and the 
carpenter went after it. lie was never seen again. 
Perhaps he was lost on the prairie, perhaps killed 
by Indians. He knew little of his trade, but they 
nevertheless had need of him. Le Gros, a man 
of character and intelligence, suffered more and 
more from the bite of the snake received in the 
marsh on Easter Day. The injured limb was 
amputated, and he died. La Salle's brother, the 
priest, lay ill ; and several others among the chief 
persons of the colony were in the same condition. 

Meanwhile, the work was urged on. A large 
building was finished, constructed of timber, roofed 
with boards and raw hides, and divided into apart- 
ments, for lodging and other uses. La Salle gave 
to the new establishment his favorite name of Fort 
St. Louis, and the neighboring bay was also chris- 
tened after the royal saint. ^ The scene was not with- 
out its charms. Towards the south-east stretched 
the bay with its bordering meadows ; and on the 



1 The Bay of St. Louis, St. Bernard's Bay, or Matagorda Bay, — for 
it has borne all these names, — was also called Espiritu Santo Bay, by 
the Spaniards, in common with several other bays in the Gulf of Mexico. 
An adjoining bay still retains the name. 



1685.] TOUR OF EXPLORATION 337 

north-east the Lavaca ran along the base of green 
declivities. Around, far and near, rolled a sea of 
prairie, with distant forests, dim in the summer 
haze. At times, it was dotted with the browsing 
buffalo, not yet scared from their wonted pastures ; 
and the grassy swells were spangled with the bright 
flowers for which Texas is renowned, and which 
now form the gay ornaments of our gardens. 

And now, the needful work accomplished, and 
the colony in some measure housed and fortified, 
its indefatigable chief prepared to renew his quest 
of the " fatal river," as Joutel repeatedly calls it. 
Before his departure, he made some preliminary 
explorations, in the course of which, according to 
the report of his brother the priest, he found evi- 
dence that the Spaniards had long before had a 
transient establishment at a spot about fifteen 
leagues from Fort St. Louis.' 

It was the first of November, when La Salle set 
out on his great journey of exploration. His 
brother Cavelier, who had now recovered, accom- 

1 Cavelier, in his report to the minister, says : " We reached a large 
village enclosed with a kind of wall made of clay and sand, and fortified 
with little towers at intervals, where we found the arms of Spain engra /ed 
on a plate of copper, with the date of 1588, attached to a stake. The in- 
hahitants gave us a kind welcome, and showed us some hammers and an 
anvil, two small i)icces of iron cannon, a small brass culverin, some pike- 
heads, some old sword-blades, and some books of Spanish comedy ; and 
thence thej' guided ns to a little handet of fishermen about t^vo leagues 
distant, where they showed us a second stake, also with the arms ot 
Spain, and a few old chimneys. All this convinced us that the Spaniards 
had formerly been here." — Cavelier, Relation dii Voyage que mon frcre 
entrepril jmur deconurir I'embouchnre dujleitce de Misstsi/nj, MS. The above 
is translated from the original draft of Cavelier, which is in my possession. 
It was addressed to the colonial minister, after the death of La Salle. The 
statement concerning the Spaniards needs confirmation. , 

29 



338 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS [1685. 

panied him with thirty men, and five cannon-shot 
from the fort sahited them as they departed. They 
were hghtly equipped, but La Salle had a wooden 
corselet as a protection against arrows. Descending 
the Lavaca, they pursued their course eastward on 
foot along the margin of the bay, while Joutel 
remained in command of the fort. It stood on a 
rising ground, two leagues above the mouth of the 
river. Between the palisades and the stream lay a 
narrow strip of marsh, the haunt of countless birds, 
and at a little distance it deepened into ponds full 
of fish. The buffalo and the deer were without 
number ; and, in truth, all the surrounding region 
swarmed with game, — hares, turkeys, ducks, geese, 
swans, plover, snipe, and partridges. They shot 
them in abundance, after necessity and practice 
had taught them the art. The river supplied them 
with fish, and the bay with oysters. There were 
land-turtles and sea-turtles ; and Joutel sometimes 
amused himself with shooting alligators, of which 
he says that he once killed one twenty feet long. 
He describes, too, with perfect accura'cy, that 
curious native of the south-western prairies, the 
" horned frog," which, deceived by its uninviting 
aspect, he erroneously supposed to be venomous.^ 

He sufifered no man to be idle. Some hunted ; 
some fished ; some labored at the houses and de- 
fences. To the large building made by La Salle he 
added four lodging-houses for the men, and a fifth 

^ Joutel devotes many pages to an account of tlie animals and plants 
of the country, most of which may readily be recognized from liis lescrip- 
tion. 



1686.] DUHAUT'S STORY. 339 

for the women, besides a small chapel. All were 
built with squared timber, and roofed like the first 
with boards and buffalo-hides ; while a palisade and 
ditch, defended by eight pieces of cannon, enclosed 
the whole.' Late one evening in January, when all 
were gathered in the principal building, conversing 
perhaps, or smoking, or playing at games of hazard, 
or dozins: b^ the fire in homesick dreams of France, 
one of the men on guard came in to report that he 
had heard a voice in the distance without. All 
hastened into the open air ; and Joutel, advancing 
towards the river whence the voice came, presently 
descried a man in a canoe, and saw that he was 
Uuhaut, one of La Salle's chief followers, and per- 
haps the greatest villain of the company. La Salle 
had directed that none of his men should be admitted 
into the fort, unless he brought a pass from him ; 
and it w^ould have been well, had the order been 
obeyed to the letter. Duhaut, however, told a 
plausible and possibly a true story. He had stopped 
on the march to mend a shoe which needed repair, 
and on attempting to overtake the party had become 
bewildered on a prairie intersected with the paths 
of the buff"alo. He fired his gun in vain, as a signal 
to his companions ; saw no hope of rejoining them, 
and turned back, travelling only in the night, from 
fear of Indians, and lying hid by day. After a 
month of excessive hardship, he reached his desti- 
nation ; and, as the inmates of Fort St. Louis 

* Compare Joutel with the Spanish account in Carta en que se da nollcia 
de tin viaje kecho a la lahia de Espirita Santo y de la poblacion que tenian ahi 
lua Franceses: Coleccion de Varios Dornmentos. 25. 



340 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. fl68G 

gathered about the weather-beaten wanderer, he 
told them dark and ominous tidings. The pilot 
of the " Belle," such was his story, had gone with 
five men to sound along the shore, by order of 
La Salle, who was then encamped in the neigh- 
borhood with his party of explorers. The boat's 
crew, being overtaken by the night, had rashly 
bi^ ouacked on the beach, without setting a guard ; 
and, as they slept, a band of Indians rushed in upon 
them and butchered them all. La Salle, alarmed 
by their long absence, had searched along the shore, 
and at length found their bodies, scattered about 
the sands and half-devoured by wolves or panthers.^ 
Well would it have been, if Duhaut had shared 
their fate. 

Weeks and months dragged on, when, at the end 
of March, Joutel, chancing to mount on the roof of 
one of the buildings, saw seven or eight men ap 
proaching over the prairie. He went out to meet 
them with an equal number, well armed ; and, as he 
drew near, recognized, with mixed joy and anxiety, 
La Salle and some of those who had gone with him. 
His brother, Cavelier, was at his side, with his cas- 
sock hanging in tatters, and his nephew, Moranget, 
in no better plight ; while most of the others had 
neither hats nor shirts, and all were wofully travel- 

1 Joutel, 122; compare Le Clercq, ii. 296. Cavelier, always disposed 
to exaggerate, says that ten men were killed. La Salle had previously 
had encounters with the Indians, and punished them severely for the 
trouble they had given his men. Le Clercq says of the principal fight : 
" Several Indians were wounded, a few were killed, and others made 
prisoners ; one of whom, a girl of three or four years, was baptized, and 
died a few days after, as the first-fruit of this mission, and a sure conquest 
sent to Heaven." 



1686] RETURN OF LA SALLE. 341 

worn and ragged.' Their story was a brief one. 
After losing Duhaut, they had wandered on through 
various savage tribes, with whom they had more 
than one encounter, scattering them like chaff by the 
terror of their fire-arms. At length, they found a 
more friendly band, and learned much touching the 
S[)aniards, who were, they were told, universally 
hated by the tribes of that counti-y. It would be 
easy, said their informants, to gather a host of war- 
riors and lead them over fhe Rio Grande ; but La 
Salle was in no condition for attempting conquests, 
and the tribes in whose alliance he had trusted 
had, a few days before, been at blows with him. 
The invasion of New Biscay must be postponed to 
a mor-e propitious day. Still advancing, he came 
to a large river, which he at first mistook for the 
Mississippi ; and, building a fort of palisades, he left 
here several of his men.^ The fate of these unfor- 
tunates does not appear. He now retraced his 
steps towards Fort St. Louis ; and, as he approached 
it, detached some of his men to look for his vessel, 
the " Belle," for whose safety, since the loss of her 
pilot, he had become very anxious. 

On the next day, these men appeared at the fort, 
with downcast looks. They had not found the 
"• Belle " at the place where she had been ordered 
to remain, nor were any tidings to be heard of her. 



' Joutel, 136. 187. The date of tlie return is from Cavelier. 

- Cavelier sa^s that he a(;tually reached tiie Mississippi ; but, on the one 
hand, he did not know whether tlio river in question was tlie Mississippi 
or not; and, on tlie other, he is soniewliat inclined to mendacity. Le 
Clercq says that La Salle thought he had found the river. Joutel saya 
that he did not reach it. 

23* 



342 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1686. 

From that hour, the conviction that she was lost 
possessed the mind of La Salle. 

Surrounded as he was, and had always been, with 
traitors, the belief now possessed him that her crew 
had abandoned the colony, and made sail for the 
West Indies or for France. The loss, was incal- 
culable. He had relied on this vessel to transport 
the colonists to the Mississippi, as soon as its exact 
position could be ascertained ; and, thinking her a 
safer place of deposit tlian the fort, he had put on 
board of her all his papers and personal baggage, 
besides a great quantity of stores, ammunition, and 
tools. ^ In truth, she Avas of the last necessity to the 
unhappy exiles, and their only resource for escape 
from a position which was fast becoming desperate. 

La Salle, as his brother tells us, fell dangerously 
ill ; the fatigues of his journey, joined to the effects 
upon his mind of this last disaster, having overcome 
his strength though not his fortitude. '^ In truth," 
writes the priest, " after the loss of the vessel, 
which deprived us of our only means of returning 
to France, we had no resource but in the firmness 
and conduct of my brother, whose death each of us 
would have regarded as his own." '^ 

La Salle no sooner recovered than he embraced 
a resolution which could be the offspring only of a 
desperate necessity. He determined to make his 
way by the Mississippi and the Illinois to Canada, 
whence he might bring succor to the colonists, and 

1 Proces Verbal fait au paste de la Baie St. Louis, le 18 Avril, 1686, MS. 

2 Cavelier, Relation du Voijage pour decouvrir I' embouchure du Fleuve da 
Missisipy, MS. 



1680 I ATTEMPT TO REACH CANADA. 343 

send a report of tlieir condition to France. The 
attempt was beset with uncertainties and dangers. 
The Mississippi was first to be found ; then fol- 
lowed' through all the perilous monotony of its in- 
terminable windings to a goal which was to be but 
the starting-point of a new and not less arduous 
journey. Cavelier, his brother, Moranget, his 
nephew, the friar, Anastase Douay, and others, to 
the number of twenty, offered to accompany him. 
Every corner of the magazine was ransacked for an 
outfit. Joutel generously gave up the better part 
of his wardrobe to La Salle and his two relatives. 
Duhaut, who had saved his baggage from the 
wreck of the " Aimable," was required to contrib- 
ute to the necessities of the party ; and the scantily 
furnished chests of those who had died were used 
to supply the wants of the living. Each man 
labored with needle and awl to patch his failing 
garments, or supply their place with buffalo or 
deer skins. On the twenty-second of April, after 
mass and prayers in the chapel, they issued from 
the gate, each bearing his pack and his weapons ; 
some with kettles slung at their backs, some with 
axes, some with gifts for Indians. In this guise, 
they held their way in silence across the prairie 
while anxious eyes followed them from the pali- 
sades of St. Louis, whose inmates, not excepting 
Joutel himself, seem to have been ignorant of the 
extent and difficulty of the undertaking.' 

' Joutel, 140; Anastase Douay, in Le Clercq, ii. 303 ; Cavelier, 7?e/o- 
tion, MS. The date is from Douaj'. It does not appear from liis nar- 
rative tliat tliey meant to go further than the Illinois. Cavelier saya that 



344 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1686 

It was but a few days after, when a cry of Qui 
vive^ twice repeated, was heard from the river. 
Joutel went down to the bank, and saw a canoe full 
of men, among whom he recognized Chedeville, a 
priest attached to the expedition, the Marquis de la 
Sablonniere, and others of those who had embarked 
iu the " Belle." His first greeting was an eager 
demand what had become of her, and the answer 
confirmed his worst fears. Chedeville and his com- 
panions were conducted within the fort, where they 
told their dismal story. The murder of the pilot 
and his boat's crew had been followed by another 
accident, no less disastrous. A boat which had 
gone ashore for water had been swamped in return- 
ing, and all on board were lost. Those who re- 
mained in the vessel, after great suffering from 
thirst, had left their moorings, contrary to the 
orders of La Salle, and endeavored to approach 
the fort. But they were few, weak, and unskilful. 
A Avind rose, and the " Belle " was wrecked on a 
sand-bar at the farther side of the bay. All per- 
ished but eight men, who escaped on a raft, and, 
after long delay, found a stranded canoe, in which 
th(^y made their way to St. Louis, bringing with 
them some of La Salle's papers and baggage, saved 
fiom the wreck. 

Thus clouds and darkness thickened around the 
hapless colonists, whose gloom was nevertheless 
lighted by a transient ray of hilarity. Among their 

after resting here they were to go to Canada. Joutel supposed that they 
would go only to the Illinois. La Salle seems to have been even moro 
reticent than usual. 



168G.1 DISCONTENT. 345 

leaders was the Sieur Barbier, a young man, who 
usually conducted the hunting-parties. Some of 
the women and girls often went out with them to 
aid in cutting up the meat. Barbier became 
enninoured of one of the girls ; and, as his devotion 
to her was the subject of comment, he asked Joutel 
for leave to marry her. The commandant, after 
due counsel with the priests and friars, vouchsafed 
his consent, and the rite was duly solemnized ; 
whereupon, fired by the example, the Marquis de 
la Sablonniere begged leave to marry another of 
the girls. Joutel, the gardener's son, concerned 
that a marquis should so abase himself, and anxious, 
at the same time, for the morals of the fort, not 
only flatly refused, but, in the plenitude of his au- 
thority, forbade the lovers all farther intercourse.^ 

The Indians hovered about the fort witii no good 
intent, sent a flight of arrows among Barbier's hunt- 
ing-party, and prowled at night around the palisades. 
One of the friars was knocked down by a wounded 
buffalo, and narrowly escaped ; another was detected 
in writing charges against La Salle. Joutel seized 
the paper, and burned it ; but the clerical character 
of the reverend offender saved him from punish- 
ment. The colonists were beginning to murmur ; 
and their discontent was fomented by Duhaut, who, 
with a view to some ulterior design, tried to ingra- 
tiate himself with the malcontents, and become 
their leader. Joutel detected the mischief, and, 
with a lenity which he afterwards deeply regretted, 

1 Joutel, 14G, 147. 



346 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. , [1686. 

contented himself with a severe rebuke to the ring- 
leader, and words of reproof and exhortation to his 
dejected band. And, lest idleness should beget 
farther evil, he busied them in such superfluous 
tasks as mowing grass, that a better crop might 
spring up, and cutting down trees which obstructed 
the view. In the evening, he gathered them in 
tlie great hall, and encouraged them to forget their 
cares in songs and dances. 

On the seventeenth of October,^ Joutel saw a band 
of men and horses, descending the opposite bank 
of the Lavaca, and heard the familiar voice of La 
Salle shouting across the water. He and his party 
were soon brought over in canoes, while the horses 
swam the river. Twenty men had gone out Avith 
him, and eight had returned. Of the rest, four had 
deserted, one had been lost, one had been devoured 
by an alligator ; and the rest, giving out on the 
march, had probably perished in attempting to 
regain the fort. The travellers told of a rich 
country^ a wild and beautiful landscape, woods, 
rivers, groves, and prairies ; but all availed noth- 
ing, and the acquisition of five horses was but an 
indifl"erent return for the loss of twelve men. The 
story of their adventures was soon told. 

After leaving the fort, they had journeyed to- 
wards the north-east, over plains green as an eme- 
rald with the young verdure of April, till at length 
they saw, fiir as the eye could reach, the boundless 

1 This is Douay's date. Joutel places it in August, but this is evi- 
dently an error. He himself says that, having lost all his papers, lie can- 
not he certain as to dates. 



1686.1 ADVENTURES OF THE TRAVELLERS. 347 

prairie alive with herds of buffalo. The animals 
were in one of their tame, or stupid moods ; and 
they killed nine or ten of them without the least 
difficulty, drying the best parts of the meat. They 
crossed the Colorado on a raft, and reached the 
banks of another river, where one of the party 
named Hiens, a German of Wiirtemberg, and an 
old buccaneer, was mired and nearly suffocated in 
a mud-hole. Unfortunately, as will soon appear, 
lie managed to crawl out ; and, to console him, the 
river was christened with his name. The party 
made a bridge of felled trees, on which they crossed 
in safety. La Salle now changed their course, and 
journeyed eastward, when the travellers soon found 
themselves in the midst of a numerous Indian popu- 
lation, where they were feasted and caressed with- 
out measure. At another village, they were less 
fortunate. The inhabitants were friendly by day, 
and hostile by night. They came to attack the 
French in their camp, but withdrew, daunted by 
the menacing voice of La Salle, who had heard 
them approaching through the cane-brake. 

La Salle's favorite Shawanoe hunter, Nika, who 
had followed him from Canada to France, and from 
France to Texas, was bitten by a rattlesnake ; and, 
though he recovered, the accident detained the 
party for several days. At length the}'- resumed 
their journey, but were arrested by a large river, 
apparently the Brazos. La Salle and Cavelier, 
with a few others, tried to cross on a raft, which, 
as it reached the channel, was caught by a current 
of marvellous swiftness. Douay and Moranget, 



y-18 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. 11686 

watching the transit from the edge of the cane- 
brake, beheld their commander swept down the 
stream, and vanishing, as it were, in an instant. All 
that day they remained with their companions on 
the bank, lamenting in an abyss of despair for the 
loss of their guardian angel, for so Douay calls 
La Salle. ^ It was fast growing dark, when, to their 
unspeakable relief, they saw him advancing with 
his party along the opposite bank, having suc- 
ceeded, after great exertion, in guiding the raft to 
land. How to rejoin him was now the question. 
Douay and his companions, who had tasted no 
food that day, broke their fast on two young eagles 
which they knocked out of their nest, and then 
spent the night in rueful consultation as to the 
means of crossing the river. In the morning, they 
waded into the marsh, the friar with his breviary 
in his hood, to keep it dry, and hacked among the 
canes till they had gathered enough to make an- 
other raft, on which, profiting by La Salle's expe- 
rience, they safely crossed, and rejoined him. 

Next, they became entangled in a cane-brake, 
where La Salle, as usual with him in such cases, 
took the lead, a hatchet in each hand, and hewed 
out a path for his followers. They soon reached 
the villages of the Cenis Indians, on and near the 
Kiver Trinity, a tribe then powerful, but long since 
•extinct. Nothing could surpass the friendliness of 
theu' welcome. The chiefs came to meet them, 

1 " Ce fut une desolation extreme pour nous tous qui desesperions de 
rcvoir jamais nostre Ange tute'laire, le Sieur de la Salle . . . Tout le jour 
Be passa eu pleurs et en larmes." — Douay, in Le Clercq, 11. 315. 



168«.] THE CAMANCHES. 349 

bearing the calumet, and followed by warriors in 
shirts of embroidered deer-skin. Then the whole 
village swarmed out like bees, gathering around 
the visitors with offerings of food, and all that was 
precious in their eyes. La Salle was lodged with 
the great chief; but he compelled his men to 
encamp at a distance, lest the ardor of their gallan- 
try might give occasion of oifence. The lodges of 
the Cenis, forty or fifty feet high, and covered with 
a thatch of meadow-grass, looked like huge bee- 
hives. Each held several families, whose fire was 
in the middle, and their beds around the circum- 
ference. The spoil of the Spaniards was to be 
seen on all sides ; silver lamps and spoons, swords^ 
old muskets, money, clothing, and a Bull of the Pope 
dispensing the Spanish colonists of New Mexico 
from fasting during summer.' These treasures, as 
well as their numerous horses, were obtained by 
the Cenis from their neighbors and allies, the 
Camanches, that fierce prairie banditti, who then, 
as now, scourged the Mexican border with their 
bloody forays. A party of these wild horsemen 
was in the village. Douay was edified at seeing 
them make the sign of the cross, in imitation of 
the neophytes of one of the Spanish missions. 
They enacted, too, the ceremony of the mass ; and 
one of them, in his rude way, drew a sketch of a 
picture he had seen in some church which he had 
pillaged, wherein the friar plainly recognized the 
Vkgin weeping at the foot of the cross. They 

* Douay, in Le Clercq, ii. 321 ; Cavelier, Relation, MS. 
30 



350 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1686. 

invited the French to join them on a raid into 
New Mexico ; and they spoke with contempt, as 
their tribesmen will speak to this day, of the 
Spanish Creoles, saying that it wonld be easy to 
conqner a nation of cowards who make people 
walk before them with fans to cool them in hot 
weather.^ 

Soon after leaving the Cenis villages, both La 
Salle and his nephew, Moranget, were attacked by 
a fever. This caused a delay of more than two 
months, during which the party seem to have re- 
mained encamped on the Neches, or, possibly, the 
Sabine. When at length the uivalids had recovered 
sufficient strength to travel, the stock of ammunition 
was nearly spent, some of the men had deserted, 
and the condition of the travellers was such, that 
there seemed no alternative but to return to Fort St. 
Louis. This they accordingly did, greatly aided in 
their march by the horses bought from the Cenis, 
and suffering no very serious accident by the way, 
excepting the loss of La Salle's servant, Dumesnil, 
who was seized by an alligator while attempting to 
cross the Colorado. 

The temporary excitement caused among the colo- 
nists by their return soon gave place to a dejection 
bordering on despair. " This pleasant land," writes 
Cavelier, " seemed to us an abode of weariness and 
a perpetual prison." Flattering themselves with 
the delusion, common to exiles of every kind, that 
they were objects of solicitude at home, they watched 

1 Douay, in Le Clercq, ii. 324, 325. 



1686.] THE LAST HOPE. 351 

daily, with straining eyes, for an approaching sail. 
Ships, indeed, had ranged the coast to seek them, 
but with no friendly intent. Their thoughts dwelt, 
with unspeakable yearning, on the France they had 
left behind ; and which, to their longing fancy, was 
pictured as an unattainable Eden. Well might they 
despond ; for of a hundred and eighty colonists, be- 
sides the crew of the " Belle," less than forty-five re- 
mained. The weary precincts of Fort St. Louis, 
with its fence of rigid palisades, its area of trampled 
earth, its buildings of weather-stained timber, and its 
well-peopled graveyard without, were hateful to 
their sight. La Salle had a heavy task to save them 
from despair. His composure, his unfailing cheer- 
fulness, his words of sympathy and of hope, were 
the breath of life to this forlorn company ; for, self- 
contained and stern as was his nature, he could 
soften, in times of extremity, to a gentleness that 
strongly appealed to the hearts of those around him ; 
and though he could not impart, to minds of less 
adamantine temper, the audacity of hope with which 
he still clung to the final accomplishment of his pur- 
poses, the contagion of his courage touched, never- 
theless, the drooping spirits of his followers.' 

The journey to Canada was clearly their only 
Lope ; and, after a brief rest. La So.lle prepared to 

1 "L'egalitd d'humeur du Chef rassuroit tout le monrle ; et il trouvoit 
des resources a tout par son esprit qui relevoit les espc'rances les plua 
abatues." — Joutel, 152. 

"II seroit difficile de trouver dans I'Histoire un courage plus intrepide 
et plus invincible que celuy du Sieur de la Salle dans les e'venomens con- 
tra! res ; il ne tut jamais ahatu, et il espe'roit toujours avec le secours du 
Ciel de venir ci bout de son entreprise nialgrc tous les obstacles qui ee 
prcsentoient." — Douay, in Le Clercq, ii. 327. 



352 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1687. 

renew the attempt. He proposed that Joutel should, 
this time, be of the party; and should proceed from 
Quebec to France, with his brother Cavelier, to 
solicit succors for the colony. A new obstacle was 
presently interposed. La Salle, whose constitution 
seems to have suffered from his long course of hard- 
ships, was attacked in November with hernia. Jou- 
tel offered to conduct the party in his stead ; but 
La Salle replied that his own presence was indis- 
l)ensable at the Illinois. He had the good fortune 
to recover, within four or five weeks, sufficiently to 
undertake the journey ; and all in the fort busied 
themselves in preparmg an outfit. In such straits 
were they for clothing, that the sails of the " Belle " 
were cut up to make coats for the adventurers. 
Christmas came, and was solemnly observed. There 
was a midnight mass in the chapel, where Membre, 
Cavelier, Douay, and their priestly brethren, stood 
before the altar, in vestments strangely contrasting 
with the rude temple and the ruder garb of the wor- 
shippers. And as Membre elevated the consecrated 
wafer, and the lamps burned dim through the clouds 
of incense, the kneeling group drew from the daily 
miracle such consolation as true Catholics alone can 
know. When Twelfth Night came, all gathered in 
the hall, and cried, after the jovial old custom, ''The 
King drinks" with hearts, perhaps, as cheerless as 
their cups, which were filled with cold water. 

On the morrow, the band of adventurers mustered 
for the fatal journey.' The five horses, bought by 

1 I follow Douay's date, who makes the day of departure tlie seventh 
of January, or the day after Twelfth Night. Joutel thinks it was the 



1687.] THE LAST FAKKWELL. 353 

La Salle of the Indians, stood in the area of the fort, 
packed for the march ; and here was gathered the 
wretched remnant of the colony, those who were to 
go, and those who were to stay behind. These lat- 
ter were about twenty in all : Barbier, who was to 
command in the place of Joutel ; Sablonniere, who, 
despite his title of Marquis, was held in great con- 
tempt ; ^ the friars, Membre and Le Clercq,^ and the 
priest, Chedeville, besides a surgeon, soldiers, labor- 
ers, seven women and girls, and several children, 
doomed, in this deadly exile, to wait the issues of 
the journey, and the possible arrival of a tardy suc- 
cor. La Salle had made them a last address, deliv- 
ered, we are told, with that winning air, which, 
though alien from his usual bearing, seems to have 
been at times, a natural expression of this unhappy 
man.' It was a bitter parting ; one of sighs, tears, 
and emb racings ; the farewell of those on whose 
souls had sunk a heavy boding that they would never 
meet again.'' Equipped and weaponed for the jour- 

twclfth of .Tanuarj-, but professes uncertainty as to all his dates at this 
time, as lie lost his notes. 

1 He had to be kept on short allowance, because lie was in the jiabit 
of bargaining away every thing given to liini. He had squandered tlie 
little tliat belonged to him at St. Domingo in amusemenls " indigncs de 
sa naissance," and, in consequence, was sullering from diseases which 
disabled him from walking. — Piocea Vedial, 18 Acril, 1GS6, jMS. 

' Maxinie le Clercq, a relative of the author of I' Elahlissenunt de 
lit Foi. 

^ " II fit une Harangue pleine d'e'loquenco et de cet air engageant qui 
luy cstoit si naturel : toute la petite C/olonie y estoit prescnte ct en fut 
touchc'e jusques aux larmes, persuadce de la nccessitc de son voyage et 
de la droiture <le ses intentions." — Douay, in Le Clercq, ii. o"0. 

* " Nous nous separames les ims des autres, d'une maniere si tondre 
et si triste qu il sembioit que nous avions tous le secret pressentimont que 
nous ne nous rcverrions jamais." — Joutel, lo8. 

30* 



354 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1687. 

ney, the adventurers filed from the gate, crossed the 
river, and held their slow march over the prairies 
beyond, till intervening woods and hills had shut 
Fort St. Louis for ever from thek sight. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

1687. 

ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. 

His Folloavkks. — Prairie TiiAVEU-ixG. — A Hunter's Quarrel. — Thk 
Murder of Moranget. — The Coxsi-iracy. — Death of La Sali.e. — 

His CITAIL.VCTER. 

The travellers were crossing a marshy prairie 
towards a distant belt of woods, that followed the 
course of a little river. They led with them 
their five horses, laden with their scanty bag- 
gage, and with what was of no less importance, their 
stock of pi'esents for Indians. Some wore the re- 
mains of the clothing they had worn from France, 
eked out with deer-skins, dressed in the Indian 
manner ; and some had coats of old sail-cloth. 
Here was La Salle, in whom one would have known, 
at a glance, the chief of the party ; and the priest, 
Cavelier, who seems to have shared not one of the 
high traits of his younger brother. Here, too, were 
their nephews, ]\loranget and the boy Cavelier, 
now about seventeen years old ; the trusty soldier, 
Joutel, and the friar, Anastase Douay. Duhaut 
followed, a man of respectable birth and educa- 
tion ; and Liotot, the surgeon of the party. At 



356 ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. [ICS?. 

home, they might, perhaps, have lived and died 
with a fair repute ; but the wilderness is a rude 
touchstone, which often reveals traits that would 
have lain buried and unsuspected in civilized life. 
The German Hiens, the ex-buccaneer, was also 
of the number. He had probably sailed with an 
English crew, for he was sometimes known as 
Gemme Anglais, or " English Jem." ^ The Sieur 
de Marie ; Teissier, a pilot ; I'Archeveque, a ser- 
vant of Duhaut; and others, to the number in all 
of about twenty, — made up the party, to which is 
to be added Mka, La Salle's Shawanoe hunter, who, 
as well as another Indian, had twice crossed the 
ocean with him, and still followed his fortunes with 
an admiring though undemonstrative fidelity. 

They passed the prairie, and neared the forest. 
Here they saw buffalo ; and the hunters approached, 
and killed several of them. Then they traversed 
the woods ;- found and forded the shallow and 
rushy stream, and pushed through the forest be- 
yond, till they again reached the open prairie. 
Heavy clouds gathered over them, and it rained 
all night ; but they sheltered themselves under the 
fresh hides of the buffalo they had killed. 

It is impossible, as it would be needless, to follow 
the detail of their daily march. ^ It was such an 



1 Tonty also speaks of him as " un flibustier anglois." In another 
document he is called " James." 

2 Of the three narratives of this journey, those of Joutel, Cavelie.rj 
and Anastase Douay, tlie first is by far the best. That of Cavclier seontts 
the work of a man of confuseil brain and indifferent memory. Some 
of his statements are irreconcilable with those of Joutel and Douay, and 
known facts of his history justify the suspicion of a wilful inaccuracy. 



1687.] PRAIRIE TRAVELLING. 357 

one, though with unwonted hardships, as is fa- 
miliar to the memory of many a prairie traveller 
of our own time. They suffered greatly from the 
want of shoes, and found for a while no better sub 
stitute than a casing df raw buffalo-hide, which 
they were forced to keep always wet, as, when 
dry, it hardened about the foot like iron. At 
length, they bought dressed deer-skin from the 
Indians, of which they made tolerable moccasons. 
The rivers, streams, and gulleys filled with water 
were without number ; and, to cross them, they 
made a boat of bull-hide, like the " bull boat " 
still used on the Upper Missouri. This did good 
service, as, with the help of theu* horses, they could 
carry it with them. Two or three men could cross 
in it at once, and the horses swam after them like 
dogs. Sometimes they traversed the sunny prairie ; 
sometimes dived into the dark recesses of the forest, 
where the buffalo, descending daily from their pas- 
tures in long files to drink at the river, often made 
a broad and easy path for the travellers. When 
foul weather arrested them, they built huts of 
bark and long meadow-grass ; and, safely sheltered, 
lounged away the day, while their horses, picketed 
near by, stood steaming in the rain. At night, they 
usually set a rude stockade about their camp ; and 
here, by the grassy border of a brook, or at the 
edge of a grove where a spring bubbled up through, 
the sands, they lay asleep around the embers of 

Joutel's account is of a very different character, and seems to be tlie work 
of an honest and intelligent man. Douay's account is brief, but it agrees 
with that of Joutel in most essential points. 



85» ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. [1G87 

their fire, while the man on guard listened to the 
deep breathing of the slumbering horses, and the 
bowling of the wolves that saluted the rising moon 
as it flooded the waste of prairie with pale mystic 
radiance. 

They met Indians almost daily ; sometimes a 
band of hunters, mounted or on foot, chasing buf- 
falo on the plains ; sometimes a party of fishermen ; 
sometimes a winter camp, on the slope of a hill or 
under the sheltering border of a forest. They held 
intercourse with them in the distance by signs ; 
often they disarmed their distrust, and attracted 
them into their camp ; and often they visited them 
in their lodges, where, seated on buffalo-robes, they 
smoked with their entertainers, passing the pipe 
from hand to hand, after the custom still in use 
among the prairie tribes. Cavelier says that they 
once saw a band of a hundred and fifty mounted 
Indians attacking a herd of buffalo with lances 
pointed with sharpened bone. The old priest was 
delighted with the sport, which he pronounces " the 
most diverting thing in the world." On another 
occasion, when the party were encamped near the 
village of a tribe which Cavelier calls Sassory, he 
saw them catch an allio-ator about twelve feet long, 
which they proceeded to torture as if he were a 
human enemy, first putting out his eyes, and then 
leading him to the neighboring prairie, where, 
having confined him by a number of stakes, they 
spent the entire day in tormenting him.^ 

' Cavelier, Relation, MS. 



1687.1 THE MALCONTENTS. 359 

Holding a north-easterly course, the travellers 
crossed the Brazos, and reached the waters of the 
Trinity. The weather was unfavorable, and on 
one occasion they encamped in the rain during 
four or five days together. It was not an har- 
monious company. La Salle's cold and haughty 
reserve had returned, at least for those of his 
folloAvers to whom he was not partial. Duhaut 
and the surgeon Liotot, both of whom were men 
of some property, had a large pecuniary stake in 
the enterprise, and were disappointed and in- 
censed at its ruinous result. They had a quarrel 
with young Moranget, whose hot and hasty temper 
was as little fitted to conciliate as was the harsh 
reserve of his uncle. Already, at Fort St. Louis, 
Duhaut had intriorued amonof the men ; and the mild 
admonition of Joutel had not, it seems, sufficed to 
divert him from his sinister purposes. Liotot, it 
is said, had secretly sworn vengeance against La 
Salle, w^iom he charged with having caused the 
death of his brother, or, as some will have it, his 
nephew. On one of the former journeys, this young 
man's strength had failed ; and. La Salle having or- 
dered him to return to the fort, he had been killed 
by Indians on the way. 

The party moved again as the weather improved ; 
and, on the fifteenth of March, encamped within a 
few miles of a spot which La Salle had passed on 
his preceding journey, and where he had left a 
quantity of Indian corn and beans in cache; that is 
to say, hidden in the ground, or in a hollow tree. 
As provisions were falling short, he sent a party 



360 ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. [1687 

from tlie camp to find it. These men were Duhaut, 
Liotot,' Iliens the buccaneer, Teissier, I'Areheveque, 
Nika the hunter, and La Salle's servant, Saget. 
They opened the cache, and found the contents 
spoiled : but, as they returned from their bootless er- 
rand, they saw buffalo ; and Nika shot two of them. 
They now encamped on the spot, and sent the ser- 
vant tc inform La Salle, in order that he might send 
horses to bring in the meat. Accordingly, on the 
next day, he directed Moranget and Ue Marie, with 
the necessary horses, to go with Saget to the hun- 
ters' camp. When they arrived, they found that 
Duhaut and his companions had already cut up the 
meat, and laid it upon scaffolds for smoking, though 
it was not yet so dry as, it seems, this process re- 
quired. Duhaut and the others had also put by, 
for themselves, the marrow-bones and certain por- 
tions of the meat, to which, by woodland custom, 
they had a perfect right. Moranget, whose rash- 
ness and violence had once ' before caused a fatal 
catastrophe, fell into a most unreasonable fit of 
rage, berated and menaced Duhaut and his party, 
and ended by seizing upon the whole of the meat, 
including the reserved portions. This added fuel 
to the fire of Duhaut's old grudge against Moranget 
and his uncle. There is reason to think that he 
had nourish'ed in his vindictive heart deadly de- 
signs, the execution of which was only hastened 
by the present outbreak. He, with his servant, 
I'Areheveque, Liotot, Hiens, and Teissier, took 
counsel apart, and resolved to kill Moranget that 

' Called Lanquetot hy Tonty. 



1687.1 MURDER OF MORANGET. 361 

night. Nika, La Salle's devoted follower, and 
Saget, bis faithful servant, must die with him. All 
were of one mind except the pilot, Teissier, who 
neither aided nor opposed the plot. 

Night came ; the woods grew dark ; the evening 
meal was finished, and the evening pipes were 
smoked. The order of the guard was arranged ; and, 
doubtless by design, the fii'st hour of the night was 
assigned to Moranget, the second to Saget, and the 
third to Nika. Gun in hand, each stood his watch 
in turn over the silent but not sleeping forms around 
him, till, his time expiring, he called the man who 
was to relieve him, wrapped himself in his blanket, 
and was soon buried in a slumber that was to be his 
last. Now the assassins rose. Duhaut and Hiens 
stood with their guns cocked ready to shoot down any 
one of the destined victims who should resist or fly. 
The surgeon, with an axe, stole towards the three 
sleepers, and struck a rapid blow at each in turn. 
Saget and Nika died with little movement ; but 
Moranget started spasmodically into a sitting pos- 
ture, gasping, and unable to speak ; and the mur- 
derers compelled De Marie, who was not in their 
plot, to compromise himself by despatching him. 

Tlie floodgates of murder were open, and the 
torrent must have its way. Vengeance and safety 
alike demanded the death of La Salle. Hiens. or 
" English Jem," alone seems to have hesitated ; for 
he was one of those to whom that stern commander 
had always been partial. Meanwhile, the intended 
victim was still at his camp, about six miles distant. 
It is easy to picture, with sufficient accuracy, the 

31 



»362 ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. [1687 

features of the scene, — the sheds of bark and 
branches, beneath which, among blankets and 
buffalo-robes, camp-utensils, pack-saddles, rude 
harness, guns, powder-horns, and bullet-pouches, 
the men lounged away the hour, sleeping, or smok 
ing, or talking among themselves ; the blackened 
kettles that hung from tripods of poles over the 
fires ; the Indians strolling about the place, or lying, 
like dogs in the sun, with eyes half shut, yet all 
observant ; and, in the neighboring meadow, the 
horses grazing under the eye of a watchman. 

It was the nineteenth of March, and Moranget 
had been two days absent. La Salle began to 
show a great anxiety. Some bodings of the truth 
seem to have visited him ; for he was heard to ask 
several of his men, if Uuhaut, Liotot, and lliens 
had not of late shown signs of discontent. Unable 
longer to endure his suspense, he left the camp in 
charge of Joutel, with a caution to stand well on 
his guard ; and set out in search of his nephcAV, 
with the friar, Anastase Douay, and two Indians. 
" All the way," writes the friar, " he spoke to me of 
nothing but matters of piety, grace, and predestina- 
tion ; enlarging on the debt he owed to God, who 
had saved him from so many perils during more 
than twenty years of travel in America. Suddenly," 
Douay continues, " I saw him overwhelmed with a 
profound sadness, for which he himself could not 
account. He was so much moved that I scarcely 
knew him." He soon recovered his usual calmness ; 
and they walked on till they approached the camp 
of Duhaut, which was, however, on the farther 



1687] THE FATAL SHOT. 363 

side of a small river. Looking about him with the 
eye of a woodsman, La Salle saw two eagles, or, 
more probably, turkey-buzzards, circling in the air 
nearly over him, as if attracted by carcasses of beasts 
or men. He fired both his pistols, as a summons to 
any of his followers who might be within hearing. 
The shots reached the ears of the conspirators, 
nightly conjecturing by whom they were fired, 
several of them, led by Duhaut, crossed the river 
at a little distance above, where trees, or other inter- 
vening objects, hid them from sight. Duhaut and 
the surgeon crouched like Indians in the long, dry, 
reed-like grass of the last sunmier's growth, while 
TArcheveque stood in sight near the bank. La 
Salle, continuing to advance, soon saw him ; and, 
calling to him, demanded where was Moranget. 
The man, without lifting his hat, or any show of 
respect, replied in an agitated and broken voice, 
but with a tone of studied insolence, that INIoranget 
was alonsr the river. La Salle rebuked and men- 
aced him. He rejoined with increased insolence, 
drawing back, as he spoke, towards the ambuscade, 
while the incensed commander advanced to chas- 
tise him. At that moment, a shot'was fired from 
the grass, instantly followed by another ; and, 
pierced through the brain. La Salle dropped dead. 
The friar at his side stood in an ecstasy of fright, 
unable to advance or to fly ; when Duhaut, rising 
from his ambuscade, called out to him to take 
courage, for he had nothing to fear. The murder- 
ers now came forward, and with wild looks gath- 
ered about their victim. " There thou liest, great 



364 ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. [^687 

Bashaw ! There thou liest ! " ^ exclaimed the sur 
geon Liotot, in base exultation over the unconscious 
corpse. With mockery and insult, they stripped it 
naked, dragged it into the bushes, and left it there, 
a prey to the buzzards and the wolves. 

Thus, in the vigor of his manhood, at the age of 
forty-three, died Robert Cavelier de la Salle, '' one 
of the greatest men," writes Tonty, " of this age ; " 
without question one of the most remarkable ex- 
plorers whose names live in history. His faithful 
officer Joutel thus sketches his portrait : " His firm- 
ness, his courage, his great knowledge of the arts 
and sciences, which made him equal to every under- 
taking, and his untiring energy, which enabled him 
to surmount every obstacle, would have v/on at last 
a glorious success for his grand enterprise, had 
not all his fine qualities been counterbalanced by 
a haughtiness of manner which often made him 
insupportable, and by a harshness towards those 
under his command, which drew upon him an 
implacable hatred, and was at last the cause of his 
death." 2 

The enthusiasm of the disinterested and chival- 
rous Champlain was not the enthusiasm of La 
Salle ; nor had he any part in the self-devoted zeal 
of the early Jesuit explorers. He belonged not to 
the age of the knight-errant and the saint, but 
to the modern world of practical study and prac- 
tical action. He was the hero, not of a principle 
nor of a faith, but simply of a fixed idea and a 

1 ♦' Te voilh grand Bacha, te voil^ ! " — Joutel, 203. 

2 Journal. Hislorique, 202. 



1687.] HIS CHAKACTER, 365 

determined purpose. As often happens with con- 
centred and energetic natures, his purpose was to 
him a passion and an inspiration ; and he clung 
to it with a certain fanaticism of devotion. It was 
the offspring of an ambition vast and comprehen- 
sive, yet acting in the interest both of France and 
of civilization. His mind rose immeasurably above 
the range of the mere commercial speculator ; and, 
in all the invective and abuse of rivals and enemies, 
it does not appear that his personal integrity ever 
found a challenger. 

He was capable of intrigue, but his reserve and 
his haughtiness were sure to rob him at last of 
the fruits of it. His schemes failed, partly because 
they were too vas', and partly because he did not 
conciliate the good-will of those whom he was com- 
pelled to trust. There were always traitors in his 
ranks, and his enemies were more in earnest than 
his friends. Yet he had friends ; and there were 
times when out of his stern nature a stream of hu- 
man emotion would gush, like water from the rock. 

In the pursuit of his purpose, he spared no man, 
and least of all himself. He bore the brunt of 
every hardship and every danger ; but he seemed to 
expect from all beneath him a courage and endur- 
ance equal to his own, joined with an implicit 
deference to his authority. Most of his disasters 
may be ascribed, in some measure, to himself; and 
Fortune and his own fault seemed always in league 
to ruin him. 

It is easy to reckon up his defects, but it is not 

easy to hide from sight the Roman virtues that 

ai* 



366 ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. |IG87. 

redeemed them. Beset by a throng of enemies, he 
stands, like the King of Israel, head and shoulders 
above them all. He was a tower of adamant, 
against whose impregnable front hardship and 
danger, the rage of man and of the elements, the 
southern sun, the northern blast, fatigue, famine, and 
disease, delay, disappointment, and deferred hope, 
emptied their quivers in vain. That very pride, 
which, Coriolanus-like, declared itself most sternly 
in the thickest press of foes, has in it something 
to challenge admiration. Never, under the im- 
penetrable mail of paladin or crusader, beat a heart 
of more intrepid mettle than within the stoic pano- 
ply that armed the breast of La Salle. To estimate 
aright the marvels of his patient fortitude, one 
must follow on his track through the vast scene of 
his interminable journeyings, those thousands of 
weary miles of forest, marsh, and river, where, 
again and again, in the bitterness of baffled striving, 
the untiring pilgrim pushed onward towards the 
goal which he was never to attain. America owes 
him an enduring memory ; for in this masculine 
figure, cast in iron, she sees the heroic pioneer 
who guided her to the possession of her richest 
heritage.^ 

* On the assassination of La Salle, tlie evidence is fourfold : 1st, The 
narrative of Doiiay, who was with him at the time. 2d, That of Joutel, 
who learned the facts immediately after they took place, from Douay and 
others, and who parted from La Salle an hour or more before his death. 
3d, A document preserved in the Archives de la Marine, entitled Relation 
de la Mart da S de la Salle suivani le rapport d'tin nommg Couture a qui M. 
Cavelier I'apprit en passant au pays des Akansa, avec toutes les circonstances 
que le dit Couture a apprises d'un FrariQuis que l\f. Cavelier avoit luissi aux 
dils pai/s des Akansa, crainte qu'il tie yardut pas le secret." 4th, The authen- 



1 087. 



HIS CHARACTER. 367 



tic memoir of Tonty, of wliitli a copy from the original is before me, and 
wliioli has rccciitlj' hcen primed by Margry. 

Tlie narrative of Cavelicr unfortunately fails us several weeks before 
the ileath of his brother, the remainder being lost. On a study of these 
various documents, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that neither 
Cavelicr nor Douay ahva3-s wrote honestly. Joutel, on the contrary, 
gives the impression of sense, intelligence, iind candor througliout. 
Charlevoix, wlio knew liim long after, says that he was " un fort hon- 
nete homme, et le seul de la troupe de M. de la Salle, sur qui ce celcbre 
voyageur put compter." Tonty derived his information from the sur- 
vivors of La Salle's party. Couture, whose statements are embodied in 
tlie Relation de la Mori de M. de la Salle, was one of Tonty's men, who, as 
will be seen hereafter, were left by him at the mouth of the Arkansas, and 
to whom Cavelicr told the story of his brother's death. Couture also 
repeats the statements of one of La Salle's followers, undoubtedly a 
Parisian boy named Earthelemy, who was violently prejudiced against 
his chief, whom he slanders to the utmost of his skill, saying that he was 
so enraged at his failures that he did not approach the sacraments for two 
years ; that he nearly starved his brother Cavelicr, allowing him only a 
handful of meal a day; that he killed with his own hand "quantitc'de 
personnes " who did not work to his liking; and that he killed the sick in 
their beds without mercy, under the pretence that they were counterfeit- 
ing sickness, in order to escape work. These assertions certainly have no 
other foundation than the undeniable strictness and rigor of La Salle's 
command. Douay says that he confessed and made his devotions on the 
morning of his death, while Cavelier always speaks of him as the hope 
and the staif of tlie colony. 

Douay declares that La Salle lived an hour after the fatal shot ; tliat 
he gave him absolution, buried liis body, and planted a cross on his grave. 
At the time, he told Joutel a different story ; and the latter, with the best 
means of learning the facts, explicitly denies the friar's printed statement. 
Couture, on the autiiority of Cavelier himself, also says tliat neither he 
nor Douay were permitted to take any step for burying the body. Tonty 
says tliat Cavelier begged leave to do so, but was refused. Douay, un- 
willing to place upon record facts from which the inference miglit easily 
be drawn tliat he had been terrified from discharging his duty, no doubt 
invented tlie story of the burial, as well as that of the edifying behavior of 
Moranget, after he had been struck in the head with an axe. 

The locality of La Salle's assassination is sufliciently clear from a com 
parison of the several narratives; and it is also indicated on a contemjio- 
rary manusciiiit map, made on the return of the survivors of the party 
to France. Tiie scene of the catastrophe is here i)laced on a southern 
branch of tlie Trinity. 

La Salle's debts, at the time of his death, according to a schedule pre- 
sented in 1701 to Champigny, Intcndant of Canada, amounted to 100,831 
livres, without reckoning interest. This cannot be meant to include all, 
as items are given which raise the amount much higher. In 1G78 and 



368 • ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. [16b« 



1G79 alone, he contracted debts to the amount of 97,184 livres, of which 
46,000 were furnished by Branssac, fiscal attorney of the Seminary of 
Montreal. This was to be paid in beaver-skins. Frontenac, at tlie same 
time, became his surety for 13,623 livres. In 1684, he borrowed 34,825 
livres from tlie Sieur Pen, at Paris. These sums do not include tlie losses 
incurred by his family, which, in the memorial presented by them to the 
king, are set down at 500,000 livres for the expeditions between 1678 and 
1683, and 300,000 livres for the fatal Texan expedition of 1684. These 
last figures are certainly exaggerated. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

1G87, 1688. 

THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. 

i'Riusipn OF THE Murderers. — Joutel among the Cenis. — WmxB 
Savages. — Insolknce of Duiiaut and his Accomplices. — Murdeb 
OF Duiiaut and Liotot. — ITikns, the Buccaneer. — Joutel and his 
Party. — Their Escape. — They reach the Arkansas. — Bkavery 
AND Devotion of Tonty. — The Fugitives reach the Illinois. — 
Unworthy Conduct of Caveliek. — He a>T) his Companions rf- 
TUit:« TO France. 

Father Anastase Douay returned to the camp, 
and, aghast with grief and terror, rushed into the 
hut of Caveher. " My poor brother is dead ! " cried 
the priest, instantly divining the catastrophe from 
the horror-stricken face of the messenger. Close 
behind came the murderers, Duhaut at their head. 
Cavelier, his young nephew, and Douay himself, all 
fell on their knees, expecting instant death. The 
priest begged piteously for half an hour to prepaie 
for his end ; but terror and submission sufficed, 
and no more blood was shed. The camp sub- 
mitted without resistance ; and Duhaut was lord 
of all. 

Joutel, at the moment, chanced to be absent; 
and I'Archeveque, who had a kindness for him, 



370 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

went quietly to seek him. He found him on a hil- 
lock, lookmg ot the band of horses grazing on the 
meadow below. " I was petrified," says Joutel, 
'* at the news, and knew not whether to fly or 
remain where I was ; but at length, as I had 
neither powder, lead, nor any weapon, and as 
I'Archeveque assured me that my life would- be 
safe if T kept quiet and said nothing, I abandoned 
myself to the care of Providence, and went back in 
silence to the camp. Duhaut, puffed up with the 
new authority which his crime had gained for him, 
no sooner saw me than he cried out that each 
ought to command in turn ; to which I made no 
reply. We were all forced to smother our grief, 
and not permit it to be seen ; for it was a question 
of life and death ; but it may be imagined with what 
feelings the Abbe Cavelier and his nephew, Father 
Anastase, and I regarded these murderers, of whom 
we expected to be the victims every moment." ^ 
They succeeded so well in their dissembling, that 
Duhaut and his accomplices seemed to lose all dis- 
trust of their intentions ; and Joutel says that they 
might easily have avenged the death of La Salle by 
that of his murderers, had not the elder Cavelier, 
through scruple or cowardice, opposed the de- 
sign. 

Meanwhile, Duhaut and Liotot seized upon all 
the money and goods of La Salle, even to his cloth- 
mg, declaring that they had a right to them, in 
compensation for the losses in which they had been 

* Journal Historique, 205. 



1687.] MARCH FOR THE CENIS. 371 

involved by the failure of his schemes.' They 
treated the elder Cavelier with great contempt, dis- 
regarding his claims to the property, which, indeed, 
he dared not urge ; and compelling him to listen 
to the most violent invectives against his brother. 
Hiens, the buccaneer, was greatly enraged at these 
proceedings of his accomplices ; and thus the seeds 
of a quarrel were already sown. 

On the second morning after the murder, the 
party broke up their camp, packed their horses, 
of which the number had been much increased by 
barter with the Indians, and began their march for 
the Cenis villages, amid a drenching rain. Thus 
they moved onward slowly till the twenty-eighth, 
when they reached the main stream of the Trinity, 
and encamped on its borders. Joutel, who, as well 
as his companions in misfortune, could not lie down 
to sleep with an assurance of waking in the morn- 
ing, was now directed by his self-constituted chiefs 
to go in advance of the party to the great Cenis 
village for a supply of food. Liotot himself, with 
Hiens and Teissier, declared that they would go 
with him ; and Duliaut graciously supplied him with 
goods for barter. Joutel thus found himself in the 
company of three murderers, who, as he strongly 
suspected, were contriving an opportunity to kill 
him ; but, having no choice, he dissembled his 
doubts, and set out with his ill-omened companions. 



^ According to the Relation de la Mort du S''- de la Salle, the amount of 
property remaining was still very consiJerable. The same document 
states that Duliaut's interest in the expedition was half the freight of one 
of the four vessels, Avhich was, of course, a dead loss to him. 



372 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1G87. 

His suspicions seem to have been groundless ; and, 
after a ride of ten leagues, the travellers neared 
the Indian town, which, with its large thatched 
lodges, looked like a cluster of huge haystacks. 
Their approach had been made known, and they 
were received in solemn state. Twelve of the 
elders came to meet them in their dress of cere- 
mony, each with his face daubed red or black, 
and his head adorned with painted plumes. From 
their shoulders hung deer-skins wrought and fringed 
with gay colors. Some carried war-clubs ; some, 
bows and arrows ; some, the blades of Spanish 
rapiers, attached to wooden handles decorated with 
hawk's-bells and bunches of feathers. They stopped 
before the honored guests, and, raising their hands 
aloft, uttered howls so extraordinary, that Joutel 
had much ado to preserve the gravity which the 
occasion demanded. Having next embraced the 
Frenchmen, the elders conducted them into the \tI- 
lage, attended by a crowd of warriors and young 
men ; ushered them into their to^vn-hall, a large 
lodge devoted to councils, feasts, dances, and other 
public assemblies ; seated them on mats, and 
squatted in a ring around them. Here they were 
regaled with sagamite, or Indian porridge, corn- 
cake, beans, and bread made of the meal of parched 
corn. Then the pipe was lighted, and all smoked 
together. The four Frenchmen proposed to open a 
traffic for provisions, and their entertainers grunted 
assent. 

Joutel found a Frenchman in the village. Hft 
was a young man from Provence, who had deserted 



1687.] JOUTEL AND THE CENIS. 373 

from La Salle on his last journey, and was now, to 
all appearance, a savage like his adopted country- 
men, being naked like them, and affecting to have 
forgotten his native language. He was very friendly, 
however, and invited the visitors to a neighboring 
village, where he lived, and where, as he told them, 
they would find a better supply of corn. They 
accordingly set out with him, escorted by a crowd 
of Indians. They saw lodges and clusters v"^f lodges 
scattered along their path at intervals, each with 
its field of corn, beans, and pumpkins, rudely culti- 
vated with a wooden hoe. lleaching their destina- 
tion, which was not far off, they were greeted with 
the same honors as at the first village ; and, the 
ceremonial of welcome over, were lodged in the 
abode of the savage Frenchman. It is not to be 
supposed, however, that he and his squaws, of 
whom he had a considerable number, dwelt here 
alone ; for these lodges of the Cenis often con- 
tained fifteen families or more. They were made 
by firmly planting in a circle tall straight young 
trees, such as grew in the swamps. The tops were 
then bent inward and lashed together ; great num- 
bers of cross-pieces were bound on, and the frame 
thus constructed was thickly covered with thatch, 
a hole being left at the top for the escape of the 
smoke. The inmates were ranged around the cir- 
cumference of the structure, each family in a kind 
of stall, open in front, but separated from those 
adjoining it by partitions of mats. Here they 
placed their beds of cane, their painted robes of 
bufi"alo and deer skin, their cooking utensils of pot- 

32 



374 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

tery, and other household goods ; and here, too, the 
head of the family hung his bow, quiver, lance, and 
shield. There was nothing in common but the fire, 
which burned in the middle of the lodge, and was 
never suffered to go out. These dwellings were of 
great size, and Joutel declares that he has seen ono 
sixty feet in diameter.^ 

It was in one of the largest that the four trav- 
ellers were now lodged. A place was assigned 
to them where to bestow their baggage ; and they 
took possession of their quarters amid the silent 
stares of the whole community. They asked their 
renegade countryman, the Provencal, if they were 
safe. He replied that they were ; but this did not 
wholly reassure them, and they spent a somewhat 
wakeful night. In the morning, they opened then* 
budgets, and began a brisk trade in knives, awls, 
beads, and other trinkets, which they exchanged 
for corn and beans. Before evening, they had 
acquired a considerable stock ; and Jou'tel's three 
companions declared their intention of returning 
with it to the camp, leaving him to continue the 
trade. They went, accordingly, in the morning ; and 
Joutel was left alone. On the one hand, he was 

1 The lodges of the Florida Indians were somewhat similar. TJie 
winter lodges of tlie now nearlj' extinct Mandans, thougii not so liigh in 
proportion to their widtli, and built of more solid materials, as the rigor of 
a northern climate i-equires, bear a general resemblance to those of the 
Cenis. 

The Cenis tattooed their faces and some parts of their bodies by 
pricking powdered charcoal into the skin. Tlie women tattooed the 
breasts ; and this practice was general among them, notwithstanding the 
pain of the operation, as it was thought very ornamental. Their dress 
consisted of a sort of frock, or wrapper of skin, from the waist to the 
knees. The men, in summer, wore nothing but the waist-cloth. 



1687.] JOUTEL AND THE CENIS. 375 

glad to be rid of them ; on the other, he found his 
position among the Cenis very irksome, and, as 
he thought, insecure. Besides the Proven9al, who 
had gone with Liotot and his companions, there 
were two other French deserters among this tribe, 
and Joutel was very desii'ous to see them, hoping that 
they could tell him the way to the Mississippi ; for 
he was resolved to escape, at the first opportunity, 
from the company of Duhaut and his accomplices. 
He therefore made the present of a knife to a young 
Indian, whom he sent to find the two Frenchmen, 
and invite them to come to the village. Mean- 
while, he continued his barter, but under many 
difficulties ; for he could only explain himself by 
signs, and his customers, though friendly by day, 
pilfered his goods by night. This, joined to the 
fears and troubles which burdened his mind, almost 
deprived him of sleep, and, as he confesses, greatly 
depressed his spirits. Indeed, he had little cause 
for cheerfulness, in the past, present, or future. 
An old Indian, one of the patriarchs of the tribe, 
observing his dejection, and anxious to relieve it, 
one evening brought him a young wife, saying that 
he made him a present of her. She seated herself 
at his side ; " but," says Joutel, " as my head was 
full of other cares and anxieties, I said nothing to 
the poor girl. She waited for a little time ; and 
then, finding that I did not speak a word, she went 
away." 

Late one night, he lay, between sleeping and 
waking, on the buffalo-robe that covered his bed of 
canes. All around the great lodge, its inmates 



37b THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

were buried in sleep ; and the fire that still burned 
in the midst cast ghostly gleams on the trophies of 
savage chivalry, the treasured scalp-locks, the spear 
and war-club, and shield of whitened bull-hide, that 
hung by each warrior's resting-place. Such was 
the A^eird scene that lingered on the dreamy eyes 
of Joutel, as he closed them at last in a troubled 
sleep. The sound of a footstep soon wakened him ; 
and, turning, he saw, at his side, the figure of a 
naked savage, armed with a bow and arrows. 
Joutel spoke, but received no answer. Not know- 
ing what to think, he reached out his hard for his 
pistols ; on which the intruder withdrew, and seated 
himself by the fire. Thither Joutel followed ; and, 
as the light fell on his features, he looked at him 
closely. His face was tattooed, after the Cenis 
fashion, in lines drawn from the top of the forehead 
and converging to the chin ; and his body was deco- 
rated with similar embellishments. Suddenly, this 
supposed Indian rose, and threw his arms around 
Joutel's neck, making himself known, at the same 
time, as one of the Frenchmen who had deserted 
from La Salle, and taken refuge among the Cenis. 
He was a Breton sailor named Ruter. His com- 
panion, named Grollet, also a sailor, had been 
afraid to come to the village, lest he should meet 
La Salle. Ruter expressed surprise and regret 
when he heard of the death of his late commander. 
He had deserted him but a few months before. 
That brief interval had sufficed to transform him 
into a savage ; and both he and his companion 
found their present reckless and ungoverned way of 



1687.J SCHEMES OF ESCAPE. 377 

life greatly to their liking. He could tell nothing 
of the Mississippi ; and on the next day he went 
home, caiTying with him a present of beads for his 
wives, of which last he had made a large collec- 
tion. 

In a few days he reappeared, bringing Grollet 
with him. Each wore a bunch of turkey-feathers 
dangling from his head, and each had wrapped his 
naked body in a blanket. Three men soon after 
arrived from Duhaut's camp, commissioned to receive 
the corn which Joutel had purchased. They told 
him that Duhaut and Liotot, the tyrants of the 
party, had resolved to return to Fort St. Louis, and 
build a vessel to escape to the West Indies ; " a 
visionary scheme," writes Joutel, " for our carpen- 
ters were all dead ; and, even if they had been 
alive, they were so ignorant, that they would not 
have known how to go about the work ; besides, 
we had no tools for it. Nevertheless, I was obliged 
to obey, and set out for the camp with the provi- 
sions." 

On arriving, he found a wretched state of affairs. 
Douay and the two Caveliers, who had been treated 
by Duhaut with great harshness and contempt, had 
made their mess apart ; and Joutel now joined 
them. This separation restored them their freedom 
of s])eech, of which they had hitherto boon de- 
prived ; bui it subjected them to incessant hunger, 
as they were allowed only food enough to keep 
them from famishing. Douay says that quarrels 
were rife among the assassins themselves, the mal- 
contents being headed by Iliens, who was enraged 

32* 



'ilS THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

that Duhaut and Liotot should have engrossed all 
the plunder. Joutel was helpless, for he had none 
to back him but two priests and a boy. 

He and his companions talked of nothing around 
their solitary camp-fire but the means of escaping 
from the villanous company into which they were 
thrown. They saw no resource but to find the 
Mississippi, and thus make their way to Canada, a 
prodigious undertaking in their forlorn condition ; 
nor was there any probability that the assassins 
would permit them to go. These, on their part, 
were beset with difficulties. They could not re- 
turn to civilization without manifest peril of a 
halter ; and their only safety was to turn bucca- 
neers or savages. Duhaut, however, still held to 
his plan of going back to Fort St. Louis ; and 
Joutel and his companions, who, with good reason, 
stood in daily fear of him, devised among them- 
selves a simple artifice to escape from his company. 
The elder Cavelier was to tell hirn that they were 
too fatigued for the journey, and wished to stay 
amon^- the Ccnis ; and to be"- him to allow them a 
portion of the goods, for which Cavelier was to 
give his note of hand. The old priest, whom a 
sacrifice of truth, even on less important occasions, 
cost no great effort, accordingly opened the nego- 
tiation ; and to his own astonishment, and that of 
his companions, gained the assent of Duhaut. 
Their joy, however, Avas short ; for Ruter, the 
French savage, to whom Joutel had betrayed his 
intention, when inquiring the way to the ]\Iississippi, 
told it to Duhaut, who, on this, changed front, and 



1687.] THE CRISIS. 379 

made the ominous declaration that he and his men 
would also go to Canada. Joutel and his com- 
panions were now filled with alarm ; for there was 
no likelihood that the assassins would permit them, 
the witnesses of their crime, to reach the settle- 
ments alive. In the midst of their trouble, the sky 
was cleared as by the crash of a thunderbolt. 

llicns and several others had gone, some time 
before, to the Cenis villages to purchase horses ; 
and here they had been retained by the charms of 
the Indian women. During their stay, Hiens heard 
of Duhaut's noAV plan of going to Canada by the 
Mississippi ; and he declared to those with him that 
he would not consent. On a morning early in ^lay, 
he appeared at Duhaut's camp, with Ruter and Grol- 
let, the French savages, and about twenty Indians. 
Duhaut and Liotot, it is said, were passing the time 
by practising with bows and arrows in front of their 
hut. One of them called to Hiens, " Good-morn- 
ing ; " but the buccaneer returned a sullen answer. 
He then accosted Duhaut, telling him that he had 
no mind to go up the Mississippi with him, and- 
dcriianding a share of the goods. Duhaut replied 
that the goods were his own, since La Salle hud 
owed him money. " So you will not give them to 
me ] " returned Hiens. " No," was the answer. 
"You are a wretch!" exclaimed Hiens. "You 
killed my master ; " ^ and, drawing a pistol from his 

1 " Tu es un miserable. Tu as tuc' mon maistre." — Tonty, Mi'moire, 
MS. Tonty derived liis Inforiiiation from some of those present. Doii.iy 
and Joutel liave each left an account of this murder. They agree in 
essential points, though Douay says that, when it took place, Duhaut had 
moved his camp beyond the Cenis villages, which is contrary to Joutel'.s 
statement. 



380 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

belt, he fired at Duhaut, who staggered three or 
four paces, and fell dead. Almost at the same in- 
stant, Ruter fired his gun at Liotot, shot three balls 
into his body, and stretched him on the ground 
mortally wounded. 

Douay and the two Caveliers stood in extreme 
terror, thinking that their turn was to come next. 
Joutel, no less alarmed, snatched his gun to defend 
himself; but Hiens called to him to fear nothing, 
declaring that what he had done was only to avenge 
the death of La Salle, to which, nevertheless, he. 
had been privy, though not an active sharer in the 
crime. Liotot lived long enough to make his con- 
fession, after which Ruter killed him by exploding 
a pistol loaded with a blank charge of powder 
against his head. Duhaut's myrmidon, I'Archeve- 
que, was absent, hunting, and Hiens was for killing 
him on his return ; but the two priests and Joutel 
succeeded m dissuading him. 

The Indian spectators beheld these murders with 
undisguised amazement, and almost with horror. 
What manner of men were these who had pierced 
the secret places of the wilderness to riot in mutual 
slaughter'? Their fiercest warriors might learn a 
lesson in ferocity from these heralds of civilization. 
Joutel and his companions, who could not dispense 
with the aid of the Cenis, were obliged to explain 
away, as they best might, the atrocity of what they 
had witnessed.^ 

Hiens, and others of the French, had before 
promised to join the Cenis on an expedition against 

1 Joutel. 248. 



1687.] HIENS TRIUMPHANT. 381 

a neighboring tribe with whom they were at war ; 
and the whole party, having removed to the Indian 
village, the warriors and their allies prepared to 
depart. Six Frenchmen went with Hiens ; and the 
rest, including Joutel, Douay, and the Caveliers, 
remained behind, in the same lodge in which Joutel 
had been domesticated, and where none were now 
left but women, children, and old men. Here they 
remained a ^veek or more, watched closely by the 
Cenis, who would not let them leave the village ; 
when news at length arrived of a great victory, 
and the warriors soon after returned with forty- 
eight scalps. It was the French guns that won 
the battle, but not the less did they glory in their 
proAvess ; and several days were spent in ceremonies 
and feasts of triumph.^ 

When all this hubbub of rejoicing had subsided, 
Joutel and his companions broke to Hiens their 
plan of attempting to reach home by way of the 
Mississippi. As they had expected, he opposed it 
vehemently, declaring that, for his own part, he 
would not run such a risk of losing his head ; but 
at length he consented to their departure, on con- 
dition that the elder Cavelier should give him a 
certificate of his entire innocence of the murder of 
La Salle, which the priest did not hesitate to do. 
For the rest, Hiens treated his departing fellow- 
travellers with the generosity of a successful free- 
booter ; for he gave them a good share of the 
plunder which he had won by his late crime, 

^ These are described by Joutel. Like nearly all the early observers 
of Indian manners, he speaks of the practice of cannibalism. 



'6S2 THE INNOCENT iVND THE GUILTY. [1G87. 

supplying them with hatchets, knives, beads, and 
other articles of trade, besides several horses. Mean- 
vi^hile, adds Joutel, " we had the mortification and 
chagrin of seeing this scoundrel walking about the 
camp in a scarlet coat laced with gold which had 
belonged to the late Monsieur de la Salle, and wliich 
he had seized upon, as also upon all the rest of his 
property." A well-aimed shot would have aA^enged 
the wrong, but Joutel was clearly a mild and mode- 
rate person ; and the elder Cavelier had constantly 
opposed all plans of violence. Therefore they 
stifled their emotions, and armed themselves with 
patience. 

Joutel's party consisted, besides himself, of the 
Caveliers, uncle and nephew, Anastase Douay, De 
Marie, Teissier, and a young Parisian named Bar- 
thelemy. Teissier, an accomplice in the murders 
of Moranget and La Salle, had obtained a pardon, 
in form, from the elder Cavelier. They had six 
horses and three Cenis guides. Hiens embraced 
them at parting, as did the ruffians who remained 
with him. Their course was north-east, towards 
the mouth of the Arkansas, a distant goal, the way 
to which was beset with so many dangers that their 
chance of reaching it seemed small. It was early 
in June, and the forests and prairies were green with 
the verdure of opening summer. They soon reached 
the Assonis, a tribe near the Sabine, who received 
them well, and gave them guides to the nations 
dwelling towards Red River. On the twenty-third, 
they approached a village, the inhabitants of which, 
regarding them as curiosities of the first order 



1687.] HONORS TO CAVELIER. 383 

came out in a body to see them ; and, eager to do 
them honor, required them to mount on their backs, 
and thus make their entrance in procession, Joutcl, 
being- hirge and heavy, weighed down his bearer, 
insomuch that two of his countrymen were forced 
to sustain him, one on each side. On arriving, an 
old chief washed their faces with warm water from 
an earthen pan, and then invited them to mount 
on a scaffold of canes, where they sat in the hot 
sun listening to four successive speeches of wel- 
come, of which they understood not a word.^ 

At the village of another tribe, farther on their 
way, they met with a welcome still more oppres- 
sive. Cavelier, the unworthy successor of his 
brother, being represented as the chief of the party, 
became the principal victim of their attentions. 
They danced the calumet before him ; while an 
Indian, taking him, with an air of great respect, 
by the shoulders, as he sat, shook him in cadence 
with the thumping of the drum. They then placed 
two girls close beside him, as his wives ; while, at 
the same time, an old chief tied a painted feather 
in his hair. These proceedings so scandalized him, 
that, pretending to be ill, he broke off the cere- 
mony ; but they continued to sing all night with so 
much zeal, that several of them were reduced to ii 
state of complete exhaustion. 

At length, after a journey of about two months, 



1 These Indians were a portion of the Catlodaqnis, or Caddocs, then 
living on Red River. The travellers afterwards visited other villages of 
the same people. Tonty was here two years afterwards, and mentions 
the curious custom of washing the faces of guests. 



384 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

during which they lost one of their number, De 
Marie, accidentally drowned while bathing, the trav- 
ellers approached the River Arkansas, at a point 
not far above its junction with the Mississippi. Led 
by their Indian guides, they traversed a rich district 
of plains and woods, and stood at length on the 
borders of the stream. Nestled beneath the forests 
of the farther shore, they saw the lodges of a large 
Indian town ; and here, as they gazed across the 
broad current, they presently descried an object 
which nerved their spent limbs, and thrilled their 
homesick hearts with joy. It was a tall wooden 
cross ; and near it was a small house, built evidently 
by Christian hands. With one accord, they fell on 
their knees, and raised their hands to Heaven in 
thanksgiving. Two men, in European dress, issued 
from the door of the house, and fired their guns to 
salute the excited travellers, who, on theu' part, 
replied with a volley. Canoes put out from the 
farther shore, and ferried them to the town, where 
they were welcomed by Couture and De Launay, 
two of Tonty's followers. 

That brave, loyal, and generous man, always vigi- 
lant and always active, beloved and feared alike 
by white men and by red,^ had been ejected, as we 
have seen, by the agent of the Governor, La Barre, 
from the command of Fort St. Louis of the Illinois. 
An order from the king had reinstated him ; and 
he no sooner heard the news of La Salle's landing 

' Journal de St. Cosme, 1G99, MS. This journal has been printed by 
Mr. Shea, from the copy in my possession. St. Cosme, wlio knew Tonty 
well, speaks of him in the warmest terms of praise. 



1687. J TONTY. 385 

on the shores of the Gulf, and of the disastrous 
beginnings of his colony/ than he prepared, on his 
OAvn responsibility, and at his own cost, to go to his 
assistance. He collected twenty-five Frenchmen, 
and five Indians, and set out from his fortified rock 
on the thirteenth of February, 1686 ;^ descended the 
Mississippi, and reached its mouth in Holy Week. 
All was solitude, a voiceless desolation of river, 
marsh, and sea. He despatched canoes to the east 
and to the west, searching the coast for some thirty 
leagues on either side. Finding no trace of his 
friend, who at that moment was ranging the prairies 
of Texas in no less fruitless search of his '• fatal 
river," Tonty wrote for him a letter, which he left 
m the charge of an Indian chief, who preserved 
it w'itli reverential care, and gave it, fourteen 
years after, to Iberville, the founder of Louisi- 
ana.^ Deeply disappointed at his failure, Tonty 
retraced his course, and ascended the Mississippi 
to the villages of the Arkansas, where some of 
his men volunteered to remain. He left six of 



1 In tlic autumn of 1085, Tonty made a journey from the Illinois to 
JSIichillimaekinac, to seek news of La Salle. He there learned, by a letter 
of the new Governor, Denonville, just arrived from France, of the landing 
of La Salle, and the loss of the " Aimable," as recounted by Beanjeu o:i his 
return, lie immediately went back on foot to Fort St. Louis of the Illi- 
nois, and prepared to descend the Mississippi ; " dans I'espcrancc de lui 
donner secours." — Lettre de Tontrj an Minisire, 24 Aoust, 1686, and M^- 
tnoire de Tontij, MS. 

- The date is from the letter cited above. In the Af^moire, hastily 
written, long after, he falls into errors of date. 

3 Iberville sent it to France, and Charlevoix gives a portion of it. — 
Hisioiie de la Nouvel/e Fiance, ii. 259. Singularly enough, the date, OS 
printed by him, is erroneous, being 20 April, 1685, instead of 1686. There 
is no doubt, wliatever, from its relations with concurrent events, that this 
journey was in the latter year. 

33 



386 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687. 

them ; and of this number were Couture and De 
I^aunay.' 

Cavelier and his companions, followed by a 
crowd of Indians, some carrying their baggage, 
some struggling for a view of the white strangers, 
entered the log cabin of their two hosts. Kude as 
it was, they found in it an earnest of peace [ind 
safety, and a foretaste of home. Couture and De 
Lanuay were moved even to tears by the story of 
their disasters, and of the catastrophe that crowned 
them. La Salle's death was carefully concealed 
from the Indians-, many of whom had seen him on 
his descent of the Mississippi, and who regarded 
him with a prodigious respect. They lavished all 
theii' hosj)itality on his followers ; feasted them on 
corn-bread, dried buffalo-meat, and watermelons, 
and danced the calumet before them, the most 
august of all their ceremonies. On this occasion, 
Cavelier's patience failed him again ; and pretend- 
ing, as before, to be ill, he called on his nephew to 
take his place. There w^ere solemn dances, too, in 
which the warriors — some bedaubed with white 
clay, some with red, and some with both ; some 
wearing feathers, and some the horns of buffalo ; 
some naked, and some in painted shirts of deer-skin 
fringed with scalp-locks, insomuch, says Joutel, 
that they looked like a troop of devils — kaped, 
stamped, and howled from sunset till dawn. All 
this was partly to do the travellers honor, Tind 
partly to extort presents. They made objections, 

1 Tonty, M^moire, MS. ; Ibid., Leltre a Monseigneur de Porichartrain, 
IG90, MS.; Joutel, 301. 



16871 THE MISSISSIPPI. 387 

however, when asked to furnish guides ; and it was 
only by dint of great offers, that four were at length 
])rocured. With these, the travellers resumed their 
journey in a wooden canoe, about the first of Au- 
gust,' descended the Arkansas, and soon reached 
the dark and inexorable river, so long the object 
of their search, rolling like a destiny through its 
realms of solitude and shade. They launch(;d forth 
on its turbid bosom, plied their oars against the 
current, and slowly won their way upward, follow- 
ing the writhings of this watery monster through 
cane-brake, swamp, and fen. It was a hard and 
toilsome journey under the sweltering sun of August, 
now on the water, now knee-deep in mud, dragging 
their canoe through the unwholesome jungle. On 
the nineteenth, they passed the mouth of the Ohio ; 
and their Indian guides made it an offering of 
buffalo-meat. On the first of September, they 
passed the Missouri, and soon after saw Mar- 
quette's pictured rock, and the line of craggy 
heights on the east shore, marked on old French 
maps as " the Ruined Castles." Then, with a 
sense of relief, they turned from the great river into 
the peaceful current of the Illinois. They were 
eleven days in ascending it, in their large and heavy 
wooden canoe, when, at length, on the afternoon 

1 Joutcl says that the Parisian boy Barthelemy was left behind. It 
was tliis youtli who afterwards uttered tlie ridiculous defamation of La 
Salle mentioned in a precedin,!? note (see ante, p. 3G7). The account of 
the deatii of La Salle, taken from tlip. lips of Couture {il>i(i.), was received 
by him from Cavelier and his companions during their stay at the Arkan- 
gas. Couture was by trade a carpenter, and was a native of Rouen. 



388 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. flOST. 

of the fourteenth of September, they saw, tower- 
ing above the forest and the river, the diff crowned 
with the paKsades of Fort St. Louis of the Illinois. 
As they drew near, a troop of Indians, headed by a 
Frenchman, descended from the rock, and fired their 
guns to salute them. They landed, and followed 
the forest path that led towards the fort, when they 
were met by Boisrondet, Tonty's comrade in the 
Iroquois war, and two other Frenchmen, who no 
sooner saw them than they called out, demanding 
where was La Salle. Cavelicr, fearing lest he and 
his party would lose the advantages which the) 
might derive from his character of representative 
of his brother, was determined to conceal his death ; 
and Joutel, as he himself confesses, took part in 
the deceit. Substituting equivocation for falsehood, 
they replied that he had been with them nearly as 
far as the Cenis villages, and that, when they parted, 
he was in good health. This, so far as they were 
concerned, was, literally speaking, true ; but Douay 
and Teissier, the one a witness and the other a 
sharer in his death, could not have said so much, 
without a square falsehood, and therefore evaded 
the inquiry. 

Threading the forest path, and circling to the 
rear of the rock, they climbed the rugged height, 
and reached the top. Here they saw an area, 
encircled by the palisades that fenced the brink 
of the cliff, and by several dwellings, a storehouse, 
and a chapel. There were Indian lodges, too ; for 
some of the red allies of the French made their 



iG87.J THE JESUIT ALLOUEZ. 389 

abode with them.' Tonty was absent, fighting 
the Iroquois ; but his lieutenant, Bellefontaine, 
received the travellers, and his little garrison of 
bush-rangers greeted them with a salute of musk- 
etry, mingled with the whooping of the Indians, A 
Te Deum followed at the chapel ; " and, with all 
our hearts," says Joutel, "we gave thanks to God 
who had preserved and guided us." At length, 
the tired travellers were among countrymen and 
friends. Bellefontaine found a room for the two 
priests ; while Joutel, Teissier, and young Cavelier 
were Iodised in the storehouse. 

The Jesuit Allouez was lying ill at the fort ; and 
Joutel, Cavelier, and Douay went to visit him. He 
showed great anxiety when told that La Salle was 
alive, and on his way to the Illinois ; asked many 
questions, and could not hide his agitation. When, 
some time after, he had partially recovered, he left 
St. Louis, as if to shun a meeting with the object 
of his alarm.^ Once before, in 1679, Allouez had 



1 Tlie condition of Fort St. Louis at this time may be gathered from 
several passages of Joutel. The houses, he says, were built at the brink 
of tlie cliff, forming, with the palisades, the circle of defence. The Indians 
lived in the area. 

- Joutel adds that this was occasioned by " une espcce de conspiration 
gn'on a voulu fairo contre les interests de Monsieur de la Salle." 

La Salle always saw the influence of the Jesuits in the disasters that 
befell him. His repeated assertion, that they wished to establisli them- 
Belves in the Valley of the Mississippi, receives confirmation from a docu- 
ment entitled, Memoire sur la pvopoxidon a fa ire par les R. Peres Je'suites pour 
la (IccoHi-erle des environs de la rici'ure dit Misshsipi et pour voir si elle est 
navirjaUe jusqu'a la mer. It is a memorandum of propositions to be made 
to the minister Seignelay, and was apparently put forward as a feeler, before 
making the propositions in form. It was written after tlie return of Beau- 
jeu to France, and before La Salle's death became known. It intimates 
that tlie Jesuits were entitled to precvdence in the Valley of the Missis- 

33* 



390 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687 

fled from the Illinois on hearing of the approach 
of La Salle. 

The season was late, and they were eager to 
hasten forward that they might reach Quebec in 
time to return to France in the autumn ships. 
There was not a day to lose. They bade farewell 
to Bellefontaine, from whom, as from all others, 
they had concealed the death of La Salle, and made 
their way across the country to Chicago. Here 
they were detained a week by a storm ; and, when 
at length they embarked in a canoe furnished by 
Bellefontaine, the tempest soon forced them to put 
back. On this, they abandoned their design, anf^ 
returned to Fort St. Louis, to the astonishment ol 
its inmates. 

It was October when they arrived ; and, mean 
while, Toiity had returned from the Iroquois war, 

eippi, as having first explored it. It affirms that Ln Salle had made a 
blunder and landed his colon)/, not at the mouth of the river, hut at another place, 
and it asks permission to continue the work in which lie has failed. To 
this end it petitions for means to hnild a vessel at St. Louis of the Illinois, 
together with canoes, arms, tents, tools, provisions, and merchandise for 
the Indians ; and it also asks for La Salle's maps and papers, and for those 
of Beaujeu. On their part, it pursues, the Jesuits will engage to make 
a complete survey of the river, and return an exact account of its in- 
habitants, its plants, and its other productions. 

How did the Jesuits learn that La Salle had missed the mouths of the 
Mississippi "? He himself did not know it when Beaujeu left him ; for he 
(lat(;d his last letter to the minister from the " Western Mouth of the 
Mississippi." I have given the proof tiiat Beaujeu, after leaving nim, 
found the true mouth of the river, and made a map of it {ante, p. 330, tote). 
Now Beaujeu was in close relations with the Jesuits, for he mentions in 
one of his letters that his wife was devotedly attached to them. These 
circumstances, taken together, may justify the suspicion that Jesuit in- 
fluence had some connection with Beaujeu's treacherous desertion of La 
Salle ; and that this complicity had some connection with the uneasiness 
of Allouez when told that La Salle was on his way to the Illinois. 



IG8S.1 KETURN OF TONTY. 391 

where he had borne a conspicuous part in the 
famous attack on the Senecas, by the Marquis de 
DenonvilleJ He listened with deep interest to the 
mournful story of his guests. Cavelier knew him 
well. He knew, so far as he was capable of 
knowing, his generous and disinterested character, 
his long and faithful attachment to La Salle, and 
the invaluable services he had rendered him, Tonty 
had every claim on his confidence and affection. 
Yet he did not hesitate to practise on him the same 
deceit which he had practised on Bellefontaine. 
He told him that he had left his brother in good 
health on the Gulf of Mexico ; and, adding fraud 
to meanness, drew upon him in La Salle's name for 
an amount stated by Joutel at about four thousand 
livres, in furs, besides a canoe and a quantity of 
other goods, all of which were delivered to him by 
the unsuspecting victim." 

1 Tonty, Du Lhut, and Durantaye came to the aid of Denonville with 
hundred and seventy Frenchmen, cliiefly coureurs de bois, and three liun- 

drcil Indians from tlie upper country. Their services were highly appre- 
ciated, and Tonty especially is mentioned in the desi)atches of Denonville 
with great praise. ' 

2 '♦ Monsieur Tonty, croyant M. de la Salle vivant, ne fit pas de diffi- 
cultc' de luy donner pour environ quatre mille liv. de pelleterie, de castors, 
loutrc'S, un canot, ct autres effets." — Joutel, 319. 

Tonty himself does not make the amount so groat : " Sur ce qu'ilg 
m'assnroient qn'il c'toit reste' an golfe de Mexique en honne sante, je Ics 
recj'us comme si <;'avoit este lui mesme et luy prestay [d, Carelier) plus do 
700 francs." — Tonty, Mcmoire. 

Cavelier must have known that La Salle was insolvent. Tonty had 
long served without i)ay. Doiiay says that lie made the stay of the party 
at the fort very agroeahlc, and speaks of him, with some apparent com- 
punction, as " ce brave (Jcntilhomme, toiijours insc'parabloment attaelio 
au.\- intcrets Ju s'eur de la Salle, dont nous luy avons cache' la deplorable 
destinc'e." 

Couture, from the Arkansas, brought word to Tonty, several months 



892 THE INNOCENT AND TIIE GUILTY. [1688. 

This was at the end of the whiter, when the 
old priest and his companions had been hving 
for months on Tonty's hospitality. They set out 
for Canada on the twenty-fu'st of March, reached 
Chicago on the twenty-ninth, and thence proceeded 
to Michillimackinac. Here Cavelier sold some of 
1'onty's furs to a merchant, who gave him in pay- 
ment a draft on Montreal, thus putting him in funds 
for his voyage home. The party continued theh* 
journey in canoes by way of French River and 
the Ottawa, and safely reached Montreal on the 
seventeenth of July. Here they procured the cloth- 
ing of which they were wofuUy in need, and then 
descended the river to Quebec, wliere they took 
lodging, some with the RecoUet friars, and some 
with the priests of the Seminary, in order to escape 
the questions of the curious. At tlie end of August, 
they embarked for France, and early in October 
arrived safely at Rochelle. None of the party were 
men of especial energy or force of character ; and 
yet, under the spur of a dire necessity, they had 
achieved one of the most adventurous journeys on 
record. 

Now, at length, they disburdened themselves of 
their gloomy secret ; but the sole result seems to 
have been an order from the king for the arrest 
of the murderers, should they appear in Canada.' 

after, of La Salle's death, adding that Cavelier had concealed it, witli nc 
other purpose than that of gaining money or supplies from him (Tonty), 
in his brother's name. 

1 Letlre du Roy a Denonv'iUe, 1 Mai, 1G89, MS. Joutel must liave been 
a young man at tlie tinieof tlie Mississippi expedition, for Charlevoi.v saw 
him at Rouen, thirty-five years after. He speaks of him witli empliatic 



1G88.| RETUKxN TO FRANCE. 393 

The wretched exiles of Texas were thought, it 
may be, already beyond the reach of succor. 



praise, but it must be admitted tliat his coiuilvance in the deception prac- 
tised by Cavelier on Tonty leaves a sbade on his character as well as on 
that of Douay. lu other respects, everj' thing that appears concerning' 
him is highly favorable, which is not the case with Douay, w!io, on one 
or two occasions, makes wilful misstatements. 

Douay says that the elder Cavelier made a report of the expedition to 
the minister Seignelay. This report rem;iined unknown in an English 
collection of autographs and old manusc-ripts, whence I obtained it by 
purchase, in ISoi, both the buyer and seller being at the time ignorant 
of its exact character. It proved, on examination, to be a portion of tlio 
first draft of Cavelier's report to Seignelay. It consists of twenty-six 
small folio pnges, closely written in a clear hand, though in a few places 
obscured by the fading of the ink, as well as by occasional erasures and 
interlineations of the writer. It is, as already' stated, confused and un- 
satisfactory in its statements ; and all the latter part has been lost. 

Soon after reaching France, Cavelier addressed to the king a memorial 
on the importance of keeping possession of the Illinois. It closes with an 
earnest petition for money, in compensation for his losses, as, according to 
his own statement, he was comp]etel\' epiihe. It is affirmed in a memorial 
of the heirs of his cousin, Francois Plct, that he concealed the death of La 
Salle some time after his return to- France, in order to get possession of 
property which would otherwise have been seized by the creditors of the 
deceased. The prudent Abbe died rich and very old, at the house of a 
relative, having inherited a large estate after his return from America. 
Apparently, this did not satisfy him ; for there is before me the cojiy of 
a petition, written about 1717, in which he asks, jointly with one of liis 
nepl'.ews, to be given possession of the seignoriid property held by La 
Salle in America. The petition was refused. 

Young Cavelier, La Salle's nephew, died some 3'ears after, an officer 
in a regiment. lie has been erroneotislj' supposed to be the same with 
one He la Salle, whose name is appended to a letter giving an account of 
Louisiana, and dated at Toulon, 3 Sept. IG'JS. This person was tl'.e sou 
of a navid official at Toulon, and was not related to the Caveliers. 



CHAPTER XXVUT. 

1688-1 G89. 
FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. 

TOSTY ArrF.MI'TS TO r.KSCUE THE COLONISTS. — HiS DIFFICULTIES AND 

IlAimsmrs. — Si'AMsii IIusTii-rrY. — Expi:mTiON of Alo>zo De Leon. 
— He i:kaciii:s Foist St. ]>ouis. — A Scene of Havoc. — Dkstkuc- 
Tio.N OF the Fuencii. — The End. 

Henri de Tonty, on his rock of St. Louis, was 
visited in September by Couture, and two Indians 
from the Arkansas. Then, for the first tinie, he heard 
with grief and indignation of the death of La Salle, 
and the deceit practised by Cavelier. The chief 
whom he had served so well was beyond his help ; 
but might not the unhappy colonists left on the 
shores of Texas still be rescued from destruction? 
Couture had confirmed what Cavelier and his 
party had already told him, that the tribes south of 
the Arkansas were eager to join the French in an 
invasion of northern Mexico ; and he soon after 
received from the Governor, Denonville, a letter 
informing him that war had again been declared 
against Spain. As bold and enterprising as La 
Salle himself, he resolved on an effort to learn the 
condition of the few Frenchmen left on the borders 
of the Gulf, relieve their necessities, and, should 



1688.] COURAGE OF TONTY. 395 

it prove practicable, make them the nucleus of a 
war-party to cross the Rio Grande, and. add a new 
province to the domain of France. It was the 
revival, on a small scale, of La Salle's scheme of 
Mexican invasion ; and there is no doubt that, with 
a score of French musketeers, he could have gath- 
ered a formidable party of savage allies fi-om the 
tribes of lied Kiver, the Sabine, and the Trinity. 
This daring adventure and the rescue of his suifer- 
ing countrymen divided his thoughts, and he pre- 
pared at once to execute the double purpose.' 

He left Fort St. Louis of the Illinois early hi 
December, in a pirogue, or wooden canoe, with 
five Frenchmen, a Shawanoe warrior, and two In- 
dian slaves ; and, after a long and painful journey, 
reached the villages of the Caddoes on Ixed River 
on the twenty-eighth of March. Here he was told 
that Hiens and his companions were at a village 
eighty leagues distant, and thither he was preparing 
to go in search of them, when all his men, except- 
ing the Shawanoe and one Frenchman, declared 
themselves disgusted with the journey, and refused 
to follow him. Persuasion was useless, and there 
was no means of enforcing obedience. He found 
liimself abandoned; but he still pushed on, with 
the two Avho remained faithful. A few days after, 
they lost nearly all their ammunition in crossing 
a river. Undeterred by this accident, Tonty made 
his way to tlie village where Hiens and those who 
had remained with him were said to be : but no 
trace of them appeared ; and the demeanor of the 

1 Tonty, HUmoire, MS. 



39G FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. [1689. 

Indians, when he inquired for them, convinced him 
that they had been put to death. He charged tliem 
with having killed the Frenchmen, whereupon the 
women of the village raised a wail of lamentation ; 
" and I sa^v," he says, " that what I had said to 
them was true." They refused to give him guides ; 
and this, with the loss of his ammunition, compelled 
him to forego his purpose of making his way to 
the colonists on the Bay of St. Louis. With bitter 
disappointment, he and his two companions retraced 
their course, and at length approached Ked River. 
Here they found the whole country flooded. Some- 
times they waded to the knees, sometimes to the 
neck, sometimes pushed their slow way on rafts. 
Night and day, it rained without ceasing. They 
slept on logs placed side by side to raise them 
above the mud and water, and fought their way 
with hatchets through the inundated cane-brakes. 
They found no game but a bear, which had taken 
refuge on an island in the flood ; and they were 
forced to eat their dogs. '' I never in my life," 
writes Tonty, " sufl"cred so much." In judging these 
intrepid exertions, it is to be remembered that he 
was not, at least in appearance, of a robust con- 
stitution, and that he had but one hand. They 
reached the Mississippi on the eleventh of July, 
and the Arkansas villages on the thirty-first. Here 
Tonty was detained by an attack of fever. He 
resumed his journey when it began to abate, and 
reached his fort of the Illinois in September.^ 

1 Two causes liave eontriLuteil to detract, most unjustly, from Touty's 
reputatioa: the publication, uiiUer his name, but witliout his autlionty, of 



1689.] SPANISH HOSTILITY. 397 

While the king of France abandoned the exiles 
of Texas to their fiite, a power dark, ruthless, and 
terrible, was hovering around the feeble colony on 
the Bay of St. J^ouis, searching with pitiless eye 



a perverted account of the enterprises in which he took part; and the 
confounding him with his brotlicr, Alphonsc dc Tonty, who long con;- 
mandcd at Detroit, wliere cliarges of pecuhition were brought against 
him. Tliere are very few names in Frencli-American liistory Jiientioned 
with such unanimity of praise as that of Henri de Tonty. Hennepin 
finds some fault witii him, but his censure is commendation. The de- 
spatclics of the Governor, Dcnonville, spealc in strong terms of his ser- 
vices in the Iroquois war, praise his character, and declare that he is fit 
for any bold enterprise, adding tliat he deserves reward from the king. 
The missionary, St. Cosme, wlio travelled under his escort in 1099, says 
of him : " He is beloved by all the vnijarjeurs." . . "It was with decT) 
regret that we parted from him : . . he is the man who best knows the 
country:. . he is loved and feared everywhere. . . . Your grace will, 1 
doubt not, take pleasure in acknowledging the obligations we owe liim." 

Tonty held the commission of captain ; but, by a memoir which he 
addresssed to Ponchartrain, in 1G90, it appears that he had never received 
any pay. Count Frontenac certifies tlie trutii of the statement, and adds 
a reconmiendation of the writer. In consequence, probably, of this, the 
proprietorsliip of Fort St. Louis of the Illinois was granted in the same 
year to Tonty, jointly with La Forest, formerly La Salle's lieutenant. 
Here they carried on a trade in furs. In 1G99, a royal declaration was 
launched against the coureum de bola ; but an express provision was added 
in favor of Tonty and La Forest, who were empowered to send up the 
country yearly two canoes, with twelve men, for the maintenance of 
this fort. With such a limitation, this fort and the trade carried on at it 
must have been very small. In 1702, we find a royal order to th.e effect 
that La Forest is henceforth to reside in Canada, and Tonty on the Mis- 
sissippi; and tiiat the establishment at the Illinois is to be discontinued. 
In llie same year, Tonty joined DTberville in Lower Louisiana, and was 
sent by that officer from Mobile to secure tlie Cliickasaws in the French 
interest. His subsequent career and the time of his death do not appear. 
He seems never to liave received the reward which his great merit de- 
served. Those intimate with the late lamented Dr. Sparks will remem- 
ber his often-expressed wish that justice should be done to the memory 
of Tonty. 

Fort St. Louis of the Illinois was afterwards reoccupied by the 
French. In 1718, a number of them, chiefly traders, were living here ; 
but, tliree years later, it was again deserted, and Charlevoix, passing the 
spot, saw only the remains of its palisades. 

34 



898 FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. [1689 

to discover and tear out that dying germ of civiliza- 
tion from the bosom of the wilderness in whose 
savage immensity it lay hidden. Spain claimed 
the Gulf of Mexico and all its coasts as her own 
of unanswerable right, and the viceroys of Mexico 
were strenuous to enforce her claim. The capture 
of one of La Salle's four vessels at St. Domingo 
had made known his designs, and, in the course 
of the three succeeding years, no less than four 
expeditions were sent out from Vera Cruz to find 
and destroy him. They scoured the whole extent 
of the coast, and found the wrecks of the " Aim- 
able" and the " Belle;" but the colony of St. Louis,^ 
inland and secluded, escaped their search. For a 
time, the jealousy of the Spaniards was lulled to 
sleep. They rested in the assurance that the in- 
truders had perished, when fresh advices from the 
frontier province of New Leon caused the Viceroy, 
Galve, to order a strong force, under Alonzo de 
Leon, to march from Coahuila, and cross the Rio 
Grande. Guided by a French prisoner, probably 
one of the deserters from La Salle, they pushed 
their way across wild and arid plains, rivers, prairies, 
and forests, till at length they approached the Bay of 
St. Louis, and descried, far off, the harboring-place 
of the French.- As they drew near, no banner was 
displayed, no sentry challenged ; and the silence 
of death reigned over the shattered palisades and 

1 Fovt St. Louis cf Texas is net to bo confcunded with Fort St. Louis 
of the Illinois. 

2 After crossing the Del Norte, they crossed in turn the Upper Nueces, 
the Hondo (Rio Frio), tlie De Leon (San Antonio), and the Guadalupe, 
and then, turning soutliward, descended to the Bay of St. Bernard - ■ 



1689-1 THE WHITE SAVAGES. 399 

neglected dwellings. The Spaniards spurred their 
reluctant horses through .the gateway, and a scene 
of desolation met their sight. No living thing 
was stirring. Doors were torn from their hinges ; 
broken boxes, staved barrels, and rusty kettles, 
mingled Avith a great number of stocks of arque- 
buses and muskets, were scattered about in confu- 
sion. Plere, too, trampled in mud and soaked with 
rain, they saw more than two hundred books, many 
of which still retained the traces of costly bindings. 
On the adjacent prairie lay three dead bodies, one 
of which, from fragments of dress still clinging to 
the wasted remains, they saw to be that of a woman. 
It was in vain to question the imperturbable sava- 
ges, who, wrapped to the throat in their buffalo- 
robes, stood gazing on the scene with looks of 
wooden immobility. Two strangers, however, at 
length arrived.' Their faces were smeared with 
paint, and they were wrapped in buffalo-robes like 
the rest ; yet these seeming Indians were L'Arche- 
veque, the tool of La Salle's murderer, Duhaut, and 
GroUet, the companion of the white savage, Ruter. 
The Spanish commander, learning that these two 
men were in the district of the tribe called Texas,^ 

Manuscript map of " Route que firent les Espajrnols, pour vonir enlever 
les Fran9a!s restez i\ la Baye St. Bernard ou St. Louis, aprcs la pcrte du 
vaisseau de M""- de la Salle, en 1689." — Margry's collection. 

^ May 1st. The Spaniards readied the fort April 22d. 

2 Tills is the first instance in wiiich the name occurs. In a letter 
written by a member of De Leon's party, the Texan Indians arc men- 
tioned several times. — See Coleccion de Vario.i Documenlos, 25. Tiiey are 
described as an agricultural tribe, and were, to all appearance, identical 
with the Cenis. The name Tejas, or Texas, was first applied as a local 
designation to a spot on the River Neclies, in the Cenis territory, whence 
it extended to the whole country. — See Yoakum, Illstori/ oi Texas, CiU. 



400 FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. [1689 

had sent to invite them to his camp under a pledge 
of good treatment ; and they had resolved to trust 
Spanish clemency rather than endure longer a 
life that had become intolerable. From them, 
the Spaniards learned nearly all that is known 
of the fate of Barbier, Zenobe Membre, and their 
companions. Tiiree months before, a large band 
of Indians had approached the fort, the inmates 
of which had suffered severelv from the rava2:es of 
the small-pox. From fear of treachery, they re- 
fused to admit their visitors, but received them at 
a cabin without the palisades. Here the French 
began a trade with them ; when suddenly a band 
of warriors, yelling the war-whoop, rushed from 
an ambuscade under the bank of the river, and 
butchered the greater number. The children of 
one Talon, together with an Italian and a young 
man from Paris, named Breman, were saved by 
the Indian women, who carried them off on their 
backs. L'Archevcque and Grollet, who, with others 
of their stamp, were domesticated in the Indian 
villages, came to the scene of slaughter, and, as 
they affirmed, buried fourteen dead bodies.^ 



'^ Derrotero de la Jornada que liizo el General Alonso de Leon para el dcr.cu- 
hrimievio de la Bahia del Esnirilu Santo, y poblacion de Franceses. Afio de 
168'.), MS. This is the ofiicial journal of the expedition, signed by Alonzo 
de Leon. I am indebted to Colonel Thomas Aspinwall for the opportunity 
of examining it. The name of Espiritu Santo was, as before mentioned, 
given by the Si)aniards to St. Louis or Matagorda Bay, as well as to two 
other bays of the Gulf of Mexico. 

Curia en que se da noticia de un viaje JiecJio a la Bahia de Espiritu Santo y 
de la pohlanion que teniaii uhi los Franceses. Coleccion de Varios Docujnentos 
para la llisloriu de la Florida, 25. 

This is a letter from a person accompanying the expedition of De 
Leon. It is dated Mav 18. 1G6J, and agrees closely with the journal cited 



1689.] THE SUIIVIVORS. 401 

L'Archeveque and Grollet were sent to Spain, 
where, in spite of the pledge given them, they were 
thrown into prison, with the intention of sending 
them back to labor in the mines. The Indians, 
some time after De Leon's expedition, .gave up 
their captives to the Spaniards. The Italian was 
imprisoned at Vera Cruz. Breman's fixte is un- 
known. Pierre and Jean Baptiste Talon, who 
were now old enough to bear arms, were enrolled 
in the Spanish navy, and, being captured in 1696 by 
a French ship of war, regained their liberty ; while 
their younger brothers and their sister were carried 
to Spain by the Viceroy.' With respect to the 
ruffian companions of Hiens, the conviction of 
Tonty that they had been put to death by the 
Indians may have been well founded ; but the 
buccaneer himself is said to have been killed in 

above, tliough evidently by anotber liand. Compare Barcia, Ensnyn Cro- 
noldijico, 294. Barcia's story lias been doubted ; but these authentic docu- 
ments prove the correctness of liis jirincipal statements, thou!^h on minor 
points I'.e seems to have indulged Ids fancy. 

The viceroy of New Spain, in a rejiort to the king, 1G90, says that in 
order to keep the Texas and other Indians of that region in obedience to 
bis Majesty, he has resolved to establish eight missions among tliora. 
He adds tliat he has appointed as govei'nor, or commniider, in tliat province, 
Don Domingo Teran de los I'ios, who will make a thorough exploration 
of it, carry out what De Leon has begun, prevent the farther intrusion of 
foieigiiers like La Salle, and go in pursuit of the remnant of the French, 
wlio are said still to remain among the tribes of Ked Kiver. 1 owe this 
document to the kindness of Mr. Buckingham Smitii. 

' Meiiwire sitr krjiiel on a inlerroijc les deit.r Cdinulicns (Pierre el Jenn Bnp- 
lislr, Tolou) qui soiit sohlats dans la Coinjiatjuie de Feiiguerullcs. A Brest, 14 
Fe'crler, 1G98, MS. 

Inlerroi/dtions fiiltes a Pierre et Jenn Dn/ilis/e Talon h feirr nrrlrcr ilr la 
Veracrux, MS. This paper, wjiicb difl'crs in some of its details from the 
jireceding, was sent by D'Iberville, the founder of r.ouisiana, to tl:e .\l)be 
Cavolier. Ai>|:ended to it is a let'er from D'Iberville, written in .May, 
1704, in which be confirms tlie ciiief statements of the Talons, by inlor- 
matiou obtained by him from a Spanish otlicer at Tensacola. 



402 FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. [1689. 

a quarrel with his accomplice, Ruter, the white 
savage ; and thus in ignominy and darkness died 
the last embers of the doomed colony of La Salle. 
Here ends the wild and mournful story of the 
explorers 'of the Mississippi. Of all their toil and 
sacrifice, no fruit remained but a great geographical 
discovery, and a grand type of incarnate energy and 
will. Where La Salle had ploughed, others were 
to sow the seed ; and on the path which the unde- 
spairing IS^orman had hewn out, the Canadian 
D'lberville was to win for France a vast though 
a transient dominion. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX I. 



EARLY UNPUBLISHED ]\IAPS OF THE IVOSSISSIPPI 
AND THE GREAT LAI{i:S. 

Most of the maps described below are to be found in the D<?pot des Cartes of 
the Marine and Colonies, at Paris. Taken togetlier, they exhibit the progress 
nf western discoveiy, and illustrate the records of the explorers. 

Ihe Map op Galinee, 1670. 

Tnis map has a double title : Carte du Canada ct des Terres 
decouuertes vers le lac Derie, and Carte du Lac Ontario et des 
habitations qui Venuironnent ensemble le pays que Mess"' Dolier et 
Galinee, missionnaires du seminaire de St. Sulpice, ont parcouru. 
It professes to represent only the country actually visited by the 
two missionaries (see p. 19, note). Beginning with Montreal, 
it gives the course of the Upper St. Lawrence and the shores of 
Lake Ontario, the River Niagara, the north shore of Lake Erie, 
the Strait of Detroit, and the eastern and northern shores of 
Lake Huron. Galinee did not know the existence of the penin- 
sula of Michigan, and merges Lakes Huron and Michigan into 
one, under the name of " Michigane, ou Mer Douce des Plurons." 
He was also entirely ignorant of the south shore of Lake Erie. 
He represents the outlet of Lake Superior as i-AV as the Saut 
Ste. Marie, and lays down the River Ottawa in great detail, 
having descended it on his return. The Falls of the Genessee 
are indicated, as also the Falls of Niagara, with the inscription, 
" Sault qui tombe an rapport des sauvages de plus de 200 pieds 



406 APPENDIX. 

de haut." Had the Jesuits been disposed to aid him, they could 
have given him much additional information, and corrected his 
most serious errors ; as. for example, the omission of the penin- 
sula of Michigan. The first attempt to map out the Great 
Lakes was that of Champlain, in 1G32. This of Galinee may 
be called the second. 

The map of Lake Siiperior, published in the Jesuit Relation 
of 1G70, 1671, was made at about the same time with Galinee's 
map. Lake Superior is here styled "Lac Tracy, ou Superieur." 
Though not so exact as it has been represented, this map indi- 
cates that the Jesuits had explored every part of this fresh-water 
ocean, and that they had a thorough knowledge of the straits 
connecting the three Upper Lakes, and of the adjacent bays, 
inlets, and shores. The peninsula of Michigan, ignored by 
Galinee, is represented in its proper place. 

About two years after Galinee made the map mentioned 
above, another, indicating a greatly increased knowledge of the 
country, was made by some person whose name does not appear, 
but who seems to have been La Salle himself. This map, which 
is somewhat more than four feet long and about two feet and a 
half wide, has no title. All the Great Lakes, through their entire 
extent, are laid down on it with considerable accuracy. Lake 
Ontario is called " Lac Ontario, ou de Frontenac." Fort Fron- 
tenac is indicated, as well as the Iroquois colonies of the north 
shore. Niagara is " Chute haute de 120 toises par oil le Lac 
Erie tombe dans le Lac Frontenac." Lake Erie is " Lac 
Teiocha-rontiong, dit communement Lac Erie." Lake St. Clair 
is " Tsiketo, ou Lac de la Chaudiere." Lake Huron is " Lac Hu- 
ron, ou Mer Douce des Hurons." Lake Superior is " Lac Supe- 
rieur." Lake Michigan is " Lac Mitcliiganong, ou des Illinois." 
Ou Lake Michigan, immediately opposite the site of Chicago, are 
written the words, of which the following is the literal trans- 
lation : " The largest vessels can come to this place from the 
outlet of Lake Erie, where it discharges into Lake Frontenac 
(Ontario) ; and from this marsh into which they can enter, there 
is only a distance of a thousand paces to the River La Divine 
(Des Plaines), which can lead them to the River Colbert (Mis- 



APPENDIX. 407 

Bisslppi), and thence to the Gulf of Mexico." This mnp was 
evidently made before the voyage of Joliet and Marqnette, aiirl 
after that voyage of La Salle, in which he discovered the Illinois, 
or at least the Des Plaincs branch of it. It shows chat the 
Mississippi was known to discharge itself into the Gulf before 
Joliet had exjilored it. The whole length of the Ohio is laid 
down with the inscription, "River Ohio, so called by the 
Iroquois on account of its beauty, which the Sieur de la Salle 
descended." (Ante, p. 23, note.) 

We now come to the map of Marquette, which is a rude 
sketch of a portion of Lakes Superior and Michigan, and of the 
route pursued by him and Joliet up the Fox River of Green 
Bay, down the Wisconsin, and thence down the Mississipi^i as far 
as the Arkansas. The River Illinois is also laid down, as it 
was by this course that he returned to Lake Micliigan after his 
memorable voyage. He gives no name to the Wisconsin. The 
Mississippi is called " Riviere de la Conception ; " the Missouri, 
the Pekitanoui ; and the Ohio, the Ouabouskiaou, though La 
Salle, its discoverer, had previously given it its present name, 
borrowed from the Iroquois. The Illinois is nameless, like the 
Wisconsin. At the mouth of a river, perhaps the Des Moines, 
Marquette places the three villages of the Peoria Indians visited 
by him. These, with the Kaskaskias, Maroas, and others, on 
the map, were merely sub-tribes of the aggregation of savages, 
known as the Illinois. On or near the Missouri, he places the 
Ouchage (Osages), the Oumessourit (]Missouris), the Kansa 
(Kanzas), the Paniassa (Pawnees), the Maha (Omahas), and 
the Pahoutet (Pah-Utahs ?). The names of many other tribes, 
" esloignees dans les terres," are also given along the course of 
the Arkansas, a river which is nameless on the map. INIost of 
these tribes are now indistinguishable. This map has recently 
been engraved and published. 

Not long after Marquette's return from the Mississippi, an- 
other map was made by the Jesuits, with the following title : 
Carte de la nouvelle deaoicvene que les peres lesuites out fait en 
Vannee 1672, et continu'ee par le P. Jacques Marquette de la 
nicsmc Gompagnie acconipagne de quelques frangois en rannce 



408 APPENDIX. 

1 673, qiCon pourra nommer en fran^ois la Manitoumie. This 
title is very elaborately decorated with figures drawn with a pen, 
and representing Jesuits instructing Indians. The map is the 
same published by Tlievenot, not without considerable variations, 
in 1G81. It represents the Mississippi from a little above the Wis- 
consin to the Gulf of Mexico, the part below the Arkansas being 
drawn from conjecture. The river- is named " Mitchisipi, ou 
grande Riviere." The "Wisconsin, the Illinois, the Ohio, the Des 
Moines (?), the Missouri, and the Arkansas, are all represented, 
but in a very rude manner. Marquette's route, in going and 
returning, is marked by lines ; but the return route is incorrect. 
The whole map is so crude and careless, and based on infor- 
mation so inexact, that it is of little interest. 

The Jesuits made also another map, without title, of the four 
Upper Lakes and the IMississippi to a little below the Arkansas. 
The Mississippi is called " Riuuiere Colbert." The map is 
remarkable as including the earliest representation of the Upper 
Mississii)pi, based, perhaps, oii the reports of Indians. The 
Falls of St. Anthony are indicated by the word " Saut." It is 
possible that the map may be of later date than at first appears, 
and that it may have been drawn in the interval between the 
return of Hennepin from the Upper Mississippi and that of La 
Salle from his discovery of the mouth of the river. The various 
temporary and permanent stations of the Jesuits are marked by 
crosses. 

Of far greater interest is the small map of Louis Joliet, made 
and presented to Count Frontenac immediately after the dis- 
coverer's return from the Mississippi. It is entitled Carte de la 
decouuerte du S''. Jolliet ou Von voit La Communication du Jlev.ue 
St. Laurens auec les lacs frontenac, Erie, Lac des Huruns et 
llinois. Then succeeds the following, written in the same anti- 
quated French, as if it were a part of the title : " Lake Fron- 
tenac [Ontario], is separated by a fall of half a league from 
Lake Ei-ie, from which one enters that of tlie Huroiis, and by 
the same navigation, into that of the Illinois [Michigan], from 
the head of which one crosses to the Divine River (Riviere- 
Divine ; i.e., the Des Piuines l>ranch of the River Illiuois), by a 



APPENDIX. 409 

portage of a thousand paces. This river falls into the River 
Colbert [Mississippi], which discharges itself into the Gulf of 
Mexico." A part of this map is based on the Jesuit map of 
Lake Superior, the legends being here for the most part identi- 
cal, though the shape of the lake is better given by Joliet. The 
Mississippi, or " Riuiere Colbert," is made to flow from three 
lakes in latitude 47°, and it ends in latitude 37°, a little Ijclow 
the mouth of the Ohio, the rest being apparently cut off to make 
room for Joliet's letter to Froutenac [ante, p. G6), which is 
written on the lower part of the map. The valley of the Mis- 
sissippi is called on the map " Colbertie, ou Amerique Occiden- 
tale." The Missouri is represented without name, and against 
it is a legend, of which the folio wins; is the literal translation : 
" By one of th^se great rivers which come from the west and 
discharge them-ielves into the River Colbert, one will find a way 
to enter the Vermilion Sea (Gulf of California). I have seen 
a village which was not more than twenty days' journey by land 
from a nation which has commerce with those of California. If 
I had come two days sooner, I should have spoken with those 
who bad come from thence, and had brought four hatchets as a 
present." The Oliio has no name, but a legend over it states 
that La Salh; had descended it. (See ante, p. 23, note.) 

Joliet, at about the same time, made another map, larger than 
that just mentioned, but not essentially different. The letter to 
Froutenac is written upon both. There is a third map, bearing 
his name, of which the following is the title : Cai-te generalle de 
la France septentrionale contenant la descouuerte du pays des 
Illinois, faite par le S'' Jolliet. This map, which is inscribed 
witli a dedication by the Intendant Duchesneau to the minister 
Colbert, was made some time after the voyage of Joliet and 
Marquette. It is an elaborate piece of work, but very inaccu- 
rate. It represents the continent from Hud.-on's Strait to i\Iex- 
ico and California, with the whole of the Atlantic and a part of 
the Pacific coast. An open sea is made to extend from Hud- 
son's Strait westward to the Pacific. The St. Lawrence and 
all the Great Lakes are laid down with tolerable correctness, as 
also is the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi, called " Messa- 

35 



410 APPENDIX. 

sipi," flows into the Gnlf, from which it extends northward 
nearly to the " Mer du Nord." Along its course, above the 
Wisconsin, which is called " Miskous," is a long list of Indian 
tribes, most of which cannot now be recognized, though several 
are clearly sub-tribes of the Sioux. The Ohio is called " Oua- 
boustikou." The whole map is decorated with numerous figures 
of animals, natives of the country, or supposed to be so. Among 
them are camels, ostriches, and a giraffe, which are placed on 
the plains west of the Mississippi. But the most curious ligure 
is that which represents one of the monsters seen by Joliet and 
Marquette, painted on a rock by the Indians. It corresponds 
with Marquette's description (ante, p. 59). This map, if really 
the woi'k of Joliet, does more credit to his skill as a designer 
than to his geographical knowledge, which appears in some 
respects heliind his time. 

A ma]) made by llaudin, Count Frontenac's engineer, may 
be mentioned here. He calls the Mississippi " Riviere de 
Buade," from the family name of his patron, and christens all 
the adjoining region " Froatenacie," or "Frontenacia." 

In the Bibliotheque Impcriale is the i-ude map of the Jesuit 
Raffeix, made at about the same time. It is chieMy interesting 
as marking out the course of Du Lhut on his journeys from the 
head of Lake Superior to the Mississipj)!, and as confirming a 
part of tlie narrative of Ileuuepin, who, Ratfeix says in a note, 
was rescued by Du Lhut. It also marks out the journeys of La 
Salle in 1G79, '80. 

We now come to the great map of Franquelin, the most 
remarkable of all the early maps of the interior of Noi-tli Amer- 
ica, thnugh hitherto completely ignored by both Amei'ican and 
Canadian writers. It is entitled " Carte de la Lonisiane on des 
Voijnr/es dn. S ' de la Salle et des pa>/s quil a deconverfs depuis 
la Noavelle France jiisqiC aii Golfe Mexlque les annees 1C79, 80, 
81 et 82. par Jean Baptiste Louis Franqaelin. Tan 1G34. 
Paris. Franquelin was a young engineer, who held the post 
of hydrographer to the king, at Quebec, in which Joliet suc- 
ceeded him. Several of his maps are preserved, including one 
made in 1G81, in which he lays down the course of the Missis- 



APPENDIX. 411 

sippi, — the lower part from conjecture, — making it discharge 
itself into Mobile Bay. It appears from a letter of the Governor, 
La Barre, that Franquclin was at Quebec ia 1 G83, engaged on 
a map which was probably that ot whicli the title is given above, 
though, had La Barre known that it was to be called a map of 
the journeys of his victim La Salle, he would have been more 
sparing of his praises. "He" (Franquelin), writes the Gov- 
ernor, " is as skilful as any in France, but extremely poor and 
.in need of a little aid from his Majesty as an Engineer: he is at 
work on a very correct map of the country which I shall send you 
next year in his name ; meanwhile, I shall support him with some 
little assistance." — Colonial Documents of New York, ix. 205. 

The map is very elaborately executed, and is six feet long 
and four and a half wide. It exhibits the political divisions of 
the continent, as the French then understood them ; that is to 
say, all the regions drained by streams flowing into the St. 
Lawrence and the Mississippi are claimed as belonging to France, 
and this vast domain is separated into two grand divisions, La 
Nouvelle France and La Louisiane. The boundary line of the 
former, New France, is drawn from the Penobscot to the south- 
ern extremity of Lake Champlain, and thence to the Mohawk, 
which it crosses a little above Schenectady, in order to make 
French subjects of the Mohawk Indians. Thence it passes by 
the sources of the Susquehanna and the Alleghany, along the 
southern shore of Lake Erie, across Southern Michigan, and by 
the head of Lake Michigan, whence it sweeps north-westward to 
the sources of the Mississippi. Louisiana includes the entire 
valley of the INtississippi and the Ohio, besides the w^hole of 
Texas. The Spanish province of Florida comprises the penin- 
sula and the country east of the Bay of Mobile, drained by 
streams flowing into tlie Gulf; while Carolina, Virginia, and 
the other English provinces, form a narrow strip between the 
Alleghanies and the Atlantic. 

The Mississippi is called " Missisipi, ou Riviere Colbert ; " 
the Missouri, " Grande Riviere des Emissourittes, ou Missou- 
rits ; " the Illinois, " Riviere des Ilinois, ou Macopins ; " the Ohio, 
which La Salle had before called by its present name, " Fleuve 



412 APPENDIX. 

St. Louis, ou Chucagoa, ou Casquinampogamou ; " one of its 
principal branches is " Ohio, ou OHghin " (Alleghany) ; the 
Arkansas, "Riviere des Acansea;" the Red River, "Riviere 
Seignelay," a name which had once been given to the Illinois. 
Many smaller streams are designated by names which have 
been entirely forgotten. 

The nomenclature differs materially from that of Coronelli's 
map, published four years later. Here the whole of the French 
territory is laid down as " Canada, ou La Nouvelle France," of 
which " La Louisiane " forms an integral part. The map of 
Homannus, like that of Franquelin, makes two distinct provinces, 
of which one is styled " Canada " and the other " La Louisiane," 
the latter including Michigan and the greater part of New 
York. Franquelin gives the shape of Hudson's Bay, and of all 
the Great Lakes, with remarkable accuracy. He makes the IMis- 
sissippi bend much too far to the West. The peculiar sinuosities 
of its course are indicated ; and some of its bends, as, for exam- 
ple, that at New Orleans, are easily recognized. Its mouths are 
represented with great minuteness ; and it may be inferred from 
the map that, since La Salle's time, they have advanced consid- 
erably into the sea. 

Perhaps the most interesting feature in Franquelin's map is 
his sketch of La Salle's evanescent colony on the Illinois, en- 
graved for this volume. He reproduced the map in 1 688, for 
presentation to the king, with the title Carte de VAmerique 
Septentrionale, depuis le 25 jusq'aii Go degre de latitude et environ 
140 et 235 degres de longitude, etc. In this map Franquelin 
corrects various errors in that which preceded. One of these 
corrections consists in the removal of a branch of the River 
Illinois which he had marked on his first map, — as will be seen 
by referring to the portion of it in this book, — but which does 
not in fact exist. On this second map La Salle's colony appears 
'n much diminished proportions, his Indian settlements having 
m good measure dispersed. 

The remarkable manuscript map of the Upper Mississippi, 
by Le Sueur, belongs to a period subsequent to the close of this 
narrative. 



APPENDED 113 

n. 

Tub Eldorado op Matuied Sagean. 

Father Hennepin had among his contemporaries two rivals 
in the fabrication of new discoveries. The first was the noted' 
La Ilontan, whose book, like liis own, had a wide circuhitiou 
and proved a great success. La Ilontan had seen much, and 
portions of his story have a substantial value ; but his account of 
his pretended voyage up the " Long River " is a sheer fabrication. 
His " Long River" corresponds in position with the St. Peter, 
but it corresponds in nothing else ; and the populous nations 
whom he found on it, the Eokoros, the E<anapes, and the Gnac- 
sitares, no less than their neighbors the Mozeemlck and the 
Tahuglauk, are as real as the nations visited by Captain Gul- 
liver. But La Hontan did not, like Hennepin, add slander and 
plagiarism to mendacity, <»r seek to appropriate to himself the 
credit of genuine discoveries made by others. 

Muthieu Sagean is a pcrsoniige less known than Hennepin or 
La Hontan ; for, though he surpassed them both in fertility of 
invention, he was illiterate, and never made a book. In 1701, 
being (hen a soldier in a company of marines at Brest, he re- 
vealed a secret which he declared that he had locked within his 
breast for twenty years, having been unwilling to impart it to 
the Dutch and English, in whose service he had been during the 
whole period. His story was written down from his dictation, 
and sent to the minister Ponchartrain. It is preserved in ho 
Bibliolheque Imperiale, and in 18G3 it was printed by Mr. Shea. 
Sagoan underwent au examination, which resulted in his being 
sent to Biloxi, near the mouth of the Mississippi, with instruc- 
tions from the minister that he should be supplied with the 
means of conducting a party of Canadians to the wonderful 
country which he had discovered ; but, on his arrival, the officers 
in command, becoming satisfied that he was an impostor, suffered 
the order to remain unexecuted. His story was as follows : — 

35* 



414 APPENDIX. 

He was born at La Chine in Canada, and engaged in the ser- 
vice of La Salle about twenty years before the revelation of his 
secret; that is, in 1681. Hence, he would have been at the ut 
most, only fourteen years old, as La Chine did not exist before 
1667. He was with La Salle at the building of Fort St. Louis 
of the Illinois, and was left here as one of a hundred men under 
command of Tonty. Tonty, it is to be observed, had but a small 
fraction of this number; and Sagean describes the fort in a man- 
ner which shows that he never saw it. Being desirous of mak- 
ing some new discovery, he obtained leave from Tonty, and set 
out with eleven other Frenchmen and two Mohegan Indians. 
They ascended the Mississippi a hundred and fifty leagues, car- 
ried their canoes by a cataract, went forty leagues farther, and 
stopped a month to hunt. While thus employed, they found an- 
other river, fourteen leagues distant, flowing south-south-west. 
They carried their canoes thither, meeting on the way many 
lions, leopards, and tigers, which did them no harm ; then they 
embarked, paddled a hundred and fifty leagues farther, and 
found themselves in the midst of the great nation of the Acaui- 
bas, dwelling in many fortified towns, and governed by King 
Hagaren, who claimed descent from Montezuma. The king, 
like his subjects, wa:s clothed with the skins of ifien. Neverthe- 
less, he and they were civilized and polished in their manners. 
They worshipped certain frightful idols of gold in the royal pal- 
ace. One of them represented the ancestor of their monarch 
armed with lance, bow, and quiver, and in the act of mounting 
his horse ; while in his mouth he held a jewel as large as a 
goose's egg, which shone like fire, and which, in the opinion of 
Sagean, was a cai'buncle. Another of these images was that 
of a woman mounted on a golden unicorn, with a horn more 
than a fathom long. After passing, pui'sues the story, between 
these idols, which stand on platforms of gold, each thirty feet 
g^quare, one enters a magnificent vestibule, conducting to the 
apartment of the king. At the four corners of this vestibule 
are stationed bands of music, which, to the taste of Sagean, was 
of very poor quality. The palace is of vast extent, and the 
private apartment of the king is twenty-eight or thirty f«et 



APPENDIX. 415 

square ; the walls, to the heipjht of eighteen feet, being of bricks 
of solltl gold, and the pavement of the same. Here the king 
dwells alone, served only by his wives, of whom he takes a new 
one evciy day. The Frenchmen alone had the i>rivilege of 
entering, and were graciously received. 

These people carry on a great trade in gold with a nation, 
believed by Sagean to be the Japanese, as the journey to them 
lasts six months. He saw the departure of one of the caravans, 
which consisted ol more than three thousand oxen, laden with 
gold, and an equal number of horsemen, armed with lances, 
bows, and daggers. They receive iron and steel in exchange 
for their gold. The king has an army of a hundred thousand 
men, of whom three-fourths are cavalry. They have golden 
trumpets, with which they make very indifferent music; and 
also golden drums, which, as well as the drummer, are carried 
on the backs of oxen. The troops are practised once a week in 
shooting at a target with aiTOws ; and the king rewards the 
victor with one of his wives, or with some honorable employ- 
ment. 

These people are of a dark complexion and hideous to look 
upon, because their faces are made long and narrow by pressing 
their heads between two boards in infancy. The women, how- 
ever, are as fair as in Europe ; though, in common with the men, 
their ears are enormously large. All persons of distinction 
among tlie Acanibas, wear their finger-nails very long. They 
are pol3'ganiists, and each man takes as many wives as he Avants. 
They are of a joyous disposition, moderate drinkers, but great 
smokers. They entertained Sagean and his followers during 
five months with the fat of the land ; and any woman who re- 
fused a Frenchman was ordered to be killed. Six girls were 
put to death with daggers for tliis breach of hospitality. The 
king, being anxious to retain his visitors in his service, offered 
Sagean one of liis daughters, aged fourteen years, in marriage; 
and. when lie saw him resolved to depart, promised to keep her 
for him till he should return. 

The climate is delightful, and summer reigns throughout the 
year. The plains are full of birds and animals of all kinds, 



416 APPENDIX. 

among which are many parrots and monkeys, besides the wild 
cattle, with humps like camels, which these people use as beasts 
of burden. 

King Hagaren would not let the Frenchmen go till they had 
sworn by tlie sky, which is the customary oath of the Acanibas, 
that ihey would return in thirty-six moons, and bring him a sup- 
ply of bends and other trinkets from Canada. As gold was to 
be had for the asking, each of the eleven Frenchmen took away 
with him sixty small bars, weighing about four pounds each. 
The king ordered two hundred horsemen to escort them, and 
carry the gold to their canoes ; which they did, and then bade 
them farewell with terrific bowlings, meant, doubtless, to do 
them honor. 

After many adventures, wherein nearly all his companions 
came to a bloody end, Sagean, and the few others who survived, 
had the ill luck to be captured by English pirates, at the mouth 
of the St. Lawrence. He spent many years among them in the 
East and West Indies, but would not reveal the secret of his 
Eldorado to these heretical foreigners. 

Such was the story, which so far imposed on the credulity of 
the Minister Ponchartrain as to persuade him that the matter 
was worth serious examination. Accordingly, Sagean was sent 
to Louisiana, then in its earliest infancy as a French colony. Here 
he met various persons who had known him in Canada, who de- 
nied that he had ever been on the Mississippi, and contradicted 
his account of his parentage. Nevertheless, he held fast to his 
story, and declared that the gold mines of the Acanibas could 
be reached without difficulty by the River Missouri. But 
Sauvolle and Bienville, chiefs of the colony, were obstinate in 
their unbelief; and Sagean and his King Hagaren lapsed alike 
into oblivion. 



I N D E X.' 



THE KOMAJJ NUMERALS KEFKU TO THE ISTKODUCTIOU. 



A. 

Abenaki Indians from New England 
attach themselves to La Salle, 2C5, 
271, 290. 305. 

Accau, Jlichel, 172; accompanies 
Hennepin in his travels, 223; the 
real leader of the party, 230; cap- 
tured by the Sioux, 232. 

''Aiuiable," 'ilie, La Salle's storcsbip, 
wrecked, 326, 327. 

Alligators in the Mississippi, 276; their 
flesh eaten, 285. 

Allouez, Claude, Jesuit missionary at 
Green 15av, 32; vi-its the Mianiis 
and Foxes, 33, 34; at S:iut Ste. Ma- 
rie addresses the Indians in a pnui- 
pnu-s speech, 41-44; intrigues with 
tlie Illinois Indians against Lu Salle, 
161 nule; at St. Louis of the Illinois, 
38!t. 

Andro, Lou's, Jesuit missionary at 
Manatouliu Isbind, 31; his mean 
fare, ib. 

Aqnijirii/uelin, a. Sioux cbief, 235, 236, 
241, 243, 2n0, 251. 

Arclievef|ue, 1". See L' ArcJiererjtte. 

Arkansiis nation of Indiaus, 276 note. 

Arkansas river, discovery of, by Joliet, 
62; .loutel nnil his parly arrive on 
its banks after ihe murder of La 
Sal^e, 384. 

Aso.i«siiiation of La Salle, 363, et seq. ; 
evidence concerning it, 366 note; 
inisslatcmcuts of Douay and others, 
S(i7. 



B. 

Barbier, bis marriage, 345; left m com- 
mand ill Texas, 353; his f;ite, 400. 

Bartlielemy, a follower of La Salle, his 
misrepresentations, 367 : accompa- 
nies Joutel on his way homeward, 
382; is left on the Arkansas, 387 
note 

Bay of St. Louis, in Texas, 324. 

Baye des I'uans. See Green Bfiy. 

Be.iujeu, connnander of the vessels in 
La Salle's last expedition, 310 ; com- 
plains of La Salle, 311, 318-320; his 
misconduct, 316, 323,329; abandons 
the expcdit on and returns to France, 
830; proofs of his treachery, 330 mile; 
he acted under Jesuit influence, 390 

IK'lC. 

Bellelbntaine, commander on" the Illi- 
ndis, as lieutenant of Tontv, 389, 
390. 

Boisrondet, 202, 207, 210, 216, 219: on 
the Illinois, 388. 

Bolton, Captain, his supposed discov- 
ery of the Mississippi, in 1670, viii. 

Boiu'don. Madame, at (.Quebec, 105. 

Brazos river in Texas, 359. 

Bniya*, a Jesuit missionary, 109, 123. 

Btiii'do hunt, 190; remarkable scene, ift. 

Bult'alo Kock, 155, not the " liock of 
St. Lonis," 288 note. 

Bnisset, Luc, a Kdcollet friar, 115, 120, 
123, 258. 

Burn ng of prisoners by Indians, 18, 
129, 196, 218. 



« By Rev. J. A Vinton. 



418 



INDEX. 



c. 

CnmanclieR Indians in Texas. 340. 
C'aiiiiibalisni among the Indians, 218 

nvie, 304, 3bl. 
Cannon found at Ottawa, III., a relic 

of tlie Frencli occupation, 291 7iole. 
Cavelier, Ht'n<5 liobert. See La Sai.i.e. 
Cavelier, Jean, brother of La Salle, a 
priest, 3 ; becomes i)rejudiced against 
ills brolher, 107; and K'ives him an- 
novancp, 108; join-; La Salle's last 
e.xpedition, 310', 337, 340, 343, 347, 
350, 352, 358; his statements unre- 
liable, 356 noie ; among the Indians, 
31j3, 3S6: conceals the death of La 
Salle, 388, 3S)1, 393; his meanness, 
391; his report to the minister Seig- 
nelay, 393 note; his memorial to the 
kinj^, i/j ; his deatli, iO 
Cavelier, Madeleine, niece of La Salle, 
19, 24. 

Cavelier, , a j-oung nephew of La 

Sal'e, accompanies him, 314, 330, 
355; returns to France with .loutel, 
3!-'2 et s^q. ; his subsequent hisrorv, 
393 7wle. 
Cenis Indians in Texas, visit of La 
Salle to them. 348-350; visit of Jou- 
tel, 372; their lodges, how made, 
373. 
Cli'nts-rrjnnc, an Illinois chief, 177. 
Chedeviile, a priest, accompanies I.a 
Salle, 344; is left in the lort in 
Texas, 353. 
China, a way to it sought across the 
continent ol' North America, vii. 8. &. 
Clark, James, of Utica, 111., supplies 
infornia'ion concerning Indian rel- 
ics, 155 note, 150 nole. 
Colbert, |)ri me minister of Lou's XIV., 
24,37, 113; his deith, 303; the river 
Mississippi, so called, 225, 304, 305, 
400, 409. 
Colorado river, in Texas, 347, 350. 
Comet, great, of 1080, seen by La Salle 

on the 111 nois, 197. 
Conti, Prince of (Louis Armand de 
Bourbon), 101; patronizes La Salle, 
117. 
Copper, found by the Jesuits on Lake 

Superior, 28. 
Courcelles, governor of Canada, chas- 
tises the Iroquois, 5; favors the plans 
of La Salle, 9; recalled home, 40. 
'* Cuiireurs tie buis,'' a lawless bodv of 
men, 7G, 141, 162, 165, 169, 252,"255, 
294; their important service, 391 
nnle ; declaration of the king against 
them, 397 note. 
Couture, of Uouen, 387 note; meets 



Jontel on the Arkansas, 384; his 
.statements respecting the death of 
La Salle. 367; informs Tontv of La 
Salle's death. 392 vof^, 394. 

Crovecreur, fort, built by La Salle on 
the Illinois, 168; destroyed by his 
men in his absence. 183, 195. 

Culture, genuine, well endures hard- 
ship, 183 note, 

D. 

Dablon, Claude, Jesuit missicnarj- at 
M. Marie du Saut, 18, 28, 32, 33*, 41. 

Diwuluhs. tiue aioux. 

Dautray (Jean Bourdon), 174, 184 note, 
194; descends the Mississipbi wiili 
La Salle, 2bl. 

De Bauj^is, Chevalier, t.ikes possession 
of J, a Salle's lore of St. Louis, lllj 
nois, 301. 

De Marie, Sieur, accompanies La Salle, 
356, 360; accomi)anies Joutel hxnie- 
ward, 382; drowned on ti»e way, 
384. 

De Soto's discovery of the Mississippi 
forgotten, vii. 

Detroit, sirait of. first visited by white- 
men, 17; visited by La Salle, 139, 
Ibl. 

Discovery cf the Ohio by La Salle, 20- 
23; of tlie -Mississippi, by Joliet. 55; 
of the Missouri, 60; of the Arkansas, 
62; of tiie Illinois coun;ry by .ioliet 
iinil Maniuette, 72 »«o/e,- ot the out 
let of the Mississippi, by La Salle 
281. 

Dollier de Casson, a missionary in Can- 
ada, 10; his character, ib.; connec- 
tion with La Salle, 11; leaves him 
on the route, 16; visits Lake Huron, 
17; returns to Montreal, 18. 

Dongan, Thonuis, Englisli governor of 
A'ew York, e.xcites the Iroquois 
against the Western tribes, 298. 

Doinics, assist;ints in the missions, 36. 

Douav, Anastase, a IJOcollet friar, 310, 
330, 343, 348, 349; sets out with La 
Salle for Caiiadi, 355; witnesse-^ the 
assassination of La Salle, 363; his 
misstatements relating thereto, 367; 
acconqiaiiies Joutel on his way to 
Canada, 3b2. 

Druilletes, Gabriel, Jesuit missionarj', 
41, 50. 

Duchesneau, Intendant of Canada, 75 
vote; opposes l"'rontenac, 96; nil ad- 
versary to La Salle, 143 note, 182. 

Du Gay (.-\.ntoine Auguel), 172; a com- 
panion of Hennepin, 223, 230; a 
captive among the Sioux, 231 etseq. 



INDEX. 



419 



Duhajt, one of La Salle's followers, 
a consuiiinijitc villMin, 339, 340, 343; 
contrive-! misi-liief, 345; sets "lit willi 
La Salle for Canada, 3 to. 309, 300; 
is contorned in llic murder of Mo- 
ran^^et. 3G1; murders l.ii Salle. 3G3; 
takes command of the pa: ly, 3t>9; 
seizes the j,^)ods of La Salle, 370; is 
slain i)y Iliens, 379. 

Du I, lint, |)aniel Greysolon. 202; his 
cner{;etic charaeler, 2-')3; his vemark- 
nMf career, •2')4 «('/t' ; metis Henne- 
pin on the Upper Alissis^ippi. •255; 
comes to the aiJ of Denoaviiie, 391 
nule. 



E. 



O Dorado west of the Mississippi, 
pretended liiscovorv of otiC, 4 13-410. 

Etif/Ki/i's, hired assistants in the mis- 
sions, 30; how emiiiovcd, lb. 

Erie, Lake, visited by iJollier, 10. 

E.Xficdition, lirst, of La Salle, 11; sec- 
ond, 74; third and last, 315: of 
Alon;;o de Leon against tlic Trench 
in Texas, 39 S. 

F. 

Faillon, the Abb(5, his investigations, v. 
7. 19, 3S, 49. 

F^nelon, the Abbe, a mis-ionary in 
Canada, 10; preiches in opposi:i(in 
to Governor Frontenac, 94; called 
to account for it, 95. 

Fox In<lians, or Outagamies, 32, 34, 
147; La Salle in danger from them, 
148; meutiiined, 204. 

Fox L'iver, discovered by Xieollet. vi'i. 

trance affects to take possession of the 
entire West, 41; copy of the docu- 
ment, 41, 43. 

Francpielin, his map of the Great 
Ltik.s. 290, 410, e/.s-f/;. 

French pretensi ins in North America, 
4], 2b3, 284, 411, 412. 

Frontenac. Count (Louis de Bnade), 
Governor of Canada; his character, 
40, 47, 74 ; aims to secure a moi.dpoly 
of the furlrade, 78; for this purpose 
builds a fort at the oil' let of Lake 
Ontario. fcO-S5; his proceedings at 
Montreal, 81; overcomes great difli- 
cultics, 82; his speech to the In- 
dians, 84; his artful management, 
80; his influence over the liidiaus, 
87; the fort named Fort Fmntenac. 
89; quarrels with the governor of 
Montreal; his rival in tlie lur-trade, 



92; discontents of the people in con- 
sequence, 93; calN the Alihe Fenc- 
Kui to account tor seditious lan- 
guage, 95; dislikes the Jesuits, 99; 
belriends La Salle, 209; recalled, 
292. 

Frontenac, fort, bui't, 85; for what 
)iur|iose built, 78; passes into the 
possess!"!! of La Salle, t!(; who 
strengthens and enlarges it, 114; 
cost of it to La Salle, 1 15 ?J"/e. 

Fnr-ti'ade in Canada, how conducted, 
30,70; gross abuses, 77 ; the Jesuits 
engaged in it, 30, 1U4. 



G. 



Galinee, a priest of St. Siilpice, sets 
out with La Salle, 11; leaves liiin, 
10; his zeal against idolatry, 17; 
visits Lake Huron, 17; i-e'urus to 
Montreal, 18; his m-ij) of the L'ppei 
Lakes, iO.; his journal of the expe- 
dition, 19; his map of the Gi'eat 
Lakes described, 405. 

Gieeii Uay, Jesuit mission there, 32, 
52. 

" Griffin," The, first vessel built on 
the Upper Lakes. 132-138; the lo- 
cality ascertained. 133 iiolv ; ditli- 
culliesof the uiuh'-i'laking, 134; the 
liuncii, 130; why the name. i/t. ; lier 
voyage on Lake Erie, loi-; on Lake 
Huron, 140; arrives at .Mackinaw, 
141; voyage on Lake Michigan, 
143; sent hack to Niaj^ai-a, il/. ; lost 
on the passage, 108, 179. 

Grollet, a French sava;,'e in Texas, 
370, it se/j. ; tails into the hands of 
the Spaniards, 399. 

H. 

Ilonncpin. Louis, a liOcolIet friar, 115; 
joins La Salle, 118; sets out for 
Niagara, 119; his character :iiid 
e-irly history, 121; arrives in Can- 
ada, 122; visits the settlements o( 
the Iroquois in mid-winter oi sn w- 
shoe-i, 123; his mendacity. 124; his 
account of the Fall" of Niagara, 120 
villi-; visits the Seneca Indians, 128; 
liis vanity, 130, 135 vntt; embarks 
in the •'Grillin " on Lake Lrie, 140; 
his voyage on Lakes Huron and 
Michigan, 141-144; accompanies La 
Salle into the HIinois conniry, 157, 
107; is sent to ex))loi-e the 1 linois 
river to its mouth, 171; ami iho 
U|)per Mississippi, 223; lal-e state- 



420 



INDEX. 



ments of his book 224 et seq. ; did 
not explore fhe Lower Mississippi, 
226: a plji^iar}-. 227, 228 no/t, 413: 
capfiirei: hy tlse Sioux, 231 : in peril 
of his life, 232, 23G, 23'J; suspected 
of sorcerr, 233; visits Luke I'epin, 
237; .adopted into the tribe, 241 ; re- 
spected by them, 242; attempts .1 
Sioux vocabuhiry, 243 ; joins :i liiint- 
in<; l)art3', 244; in danger of starva- 
tion, 245; visits and names tlie Fails 
of St. Anthony, 246; descends the 
Missi-sippi, 247; the scenery de- 
scribed, 249; again in a Iniiiting- 
party, 251; meets with Uu Lhut and 
his [larty, 252; returns to civiliz.i- 
tion, 25S; g les to Europe, 259: has 
had a inultituile of readers, ib. wile. 

Hiens, or '• Knglisii .leni," fimierly a 
buccaneer, a follower of L-i Salle. 
347; sets out with him fiir Canada, 
356, 360; one of the murderers of 
Jloranget, 361; ami of La Salle, 
363; kills Duliaut, 379; seizes La 
Salle's property, 382; assists the 
Ceiiis Indians in war, 381; killed 
by an accomplice, 402. 

"llistoire de iMoiisieur de la Salle," 
its contents, 2U; its errors, 21, 23. 
See " A/emuire sur M. dn La Sn/le." 

Huron, Lake, visited by missionaries, 
17, 27; voyage of Lu Salle ujioii it, 
140. 

Huron tribe of Indians, fugitives at 
La I'ointe, 30; driven away by the 
Sioux, 31; at Mackinaw, 142. 



I. 



Idol, an Indian, found at Detroit, 16; 
another, 33; two others, 59. 

lUiiiii s country discovc-reil by La 
Salle, 21; traversed by .Mar(|uelte 
and .loliet, 65, 67-69; irrui)tion of 
the Iroipiois, 191 it .leq. 

Illinois iiMtion of Indians, 30, 57; an 
aggregation of kindivd tribes, 206 
nt)l(r ; adventures of La Salle among 
them, 158 ttseq.; their great to>Mi, 
156: the town destroyed bv the 
Irnqtois, 191 ; evil practices of, 206 
«()/e; battle with the Ir.uiuois, 210; 
retire before them 213: retreat be- 
j-oiid the Mississippi, 218; site of the 
great town determined, 221 ; return 
ol the Illinois, 222. 

niiiiois liiver, discovered by La Salle, 
20, 25; passed by .loliet and .Mar- 
quette, 58; called "the Divine," 
and -vhv. 154 n<ite. 

Indian \)arbarity, 13, 129, 192, 196, 



218; Indian life described, 201 ei 
seq.; In<lian fight, 211: cannibalism, 
218. 381; torture an alligator, 358; 
Indian lodges, how maile, 373: tat- 
too their bodies, 374 mile ; singular 
Indian hospitalitv, 372, 3>>3, 386. 
Iroquois, det'eati'd by Courcelles. 5, 10; 
their hostility to the .lesuits, 17; 
their invasion of the Illinnis, 191; 
their measur le-s ferocity, 192,217; 
attack the Illinois, 210;" a terror t) 
other tribes, 26 i, 263, 264, 267, 2:7, 
289 291, 294, 295, 300. 

J. 

Jesuits, tlie'r influence in Canada, 10, 
103; jealous of other intiuence, 13, 
18, 20 mile, 406; a partial change in 
their spirit, 27; become explorers, 
searchers for copper, 28, 2y; and 
fur-traders, 36; their missions on 
the Upper Lakes, 29, 30: iheirvast 
schemes for controlling the Indians 
in the ^lissis^ippi Valley. 97; their 
e.yirii lie cor/>s, 98; they dread the 
inlliience of fnr-traders, and espe- 
cially of La Salle, 99; tli'i lii-hop 
f Ivors them, 103; their trade in lurs 
and brand V, 104; their endeavor-i to 
ruin La Salle, 107-110, 112, 137, 
142, 161: his n» sfortunes due to 
their intrigues, 3'>9 mile ; tlieir maps 
of the Great Lakes. 406-408. 

Joliet, Loui", his bh'th :ind education, 
48; his early history ami ch iracter, 
49; accompanies St. Lusson to Lake 
Superior, 40, 49; meets with La 
Salle on tii-i wav, 14, 49: his map 
of the lireat Lakes, 14. 21, i'-i note, 
408; sent by Krontenac to discover 
the .Mississippi, 48; reaches G een 
15ay, 52; descends the Wisconsin, 
54; the scenery described 54, 55, 
1)1.sci>vh;i;s ti'ik Mlssissii-i-i, 23, 
55: desceii !s that mighty stream, 
and how far. 55-64; passes the 
mouth of the .Mis.souri. 60; ant the 
Arkansas, 62: se's out on his return, 
64: ))as.ses up the Illinois l.'iver, 65; 
retiir s to (Quebec, and on the wa}' 
loses all his manuscripts. 66; his 
m rriage, 66 nutr ; and sMb-ei|uent 
hisiiiry. i6. ; his nniii ilescrii.ed, 408. 
Joiitel, a'C inpanies La Salle on his 
last expe lition. 313, 3i2, 326, 330, 
334; is left in command of the Put, 
33S. 340; sets out with La Salle for 
Canada, 355; the historian of tha 
pary. 3'i6 iwit ; as such leliable, 
357 7iule, 367 nute ; his character of 



INDEX. 



121 



La Salle. 3C4; visits the Cenis 
Imiinns. .S72 H neq.: sots out tor 
Ciuiiiil:!. .38'2; his (rnrty. il>. : rcjulms 
the A'kansas. 384: anil tiic Missis- 
sippi, ."87; nivl the Illinois, 3?8; 
coiiicais the dcatli of I.a Salle, ih.; 
arrives in Canada, 3<J2; uiid in 
Traace, ib. 



Kankakee Hiver, a branch of the Illi- 
nois, l.'>3; whence tho name. ib. nult ; 
La bulle reaches it, 104, 160. 

L. 

l^'Arrhevoque, a servant of Dnhaiit, 
and follower of I.a S.ille, .150, 3ti0; 
assists in the niiink-r of Moranser, 
3iJl; and of La Salle, .303; assnnies 
the Indian ctisliinie, 399; falls into 
the hands of the Spaniurils, 400; sent 
to Spain, 401. 

La Harre, Le Fevre de, sncceeds Fron- 
tiMiac as {jovernor of C;inad •, 292; 
his chararter, !b. ; his niisdeeils, 293; 
unfriendly to La Salle, 29G; depre- 
ciates his achievenvnts, 297: seizes 
fort l-'riintenac and other property of 
La Salle, 299; seizes La Salle's fort 
of St. Louis, 301. 

La Chesnaye. a merchant, Joins in a 
conibinatiuii against La Salle, 96, 

299. 

La Chine, near Montreal, pranfed to 
La Salle, 5; the name, wliv given, 
19. 

La Forest, accompanies La Salle, 188, 
2154; in conimaiid at Fort Frmitenac, 
300: in I'aris, 309; departs tor Can- 
ada, ill. ; ill the fur trade, 397 iwte. 

La I Ionian, his fabricati.m-, 413. 

La .Mot e, Sieiir<le.Jc.iiis I.a Salle, 118; 
sails for Niagara, \i'\ 124; his peril- 
ous voyage, 123; his visit to the Se- 
neca Indians, 128; is unsuccessful 
anil returns to Canada, 130. 

La I'ointe. at the head of Lake Supe- 
rior, a .lesnit mission there, 30 

La .Sai.i.k, Kciie Hohert Cavelier, his 
birth, parentage, and social position, 
1: hi- edMcalion, 2; in early life con- 
nected with the lesuils, /& ; his char- 
acter, 3, 0, 11, ir>, 73, IGtJ, 182. 200, 
2ti9. .■}3t). 351, 3tJ4; arrives in Mon- 
treal, 4; his connec ion with the 
Seminary <if St. Suljiice, 5; has a 
grant of land at La Cliine, ib. ; grants 
•and to settlers under him, 7 ; his 



vast designs, 8, 73; hopes to reach 
Cliina liy means of the Ohio river, 
lb.; sets out on ms kih.st kxi-kdi- 
TioN, 1 1 ; arr:val among t!ie Sentfcas, 
12; his danger there, 13; niee's with 
Joliet, 14 : parts with him and the two 
priests, his companions, lo; goes to 
Onondaga, 20; descends the Illinois 
and discovers the Ohi", 20-23; did 
not then reach the Mississippi, 21- 
25; his researches nni'le at liis own 
e.\|>ensc, 38, 294, 304; iiis skco.nu 
K.\i'i-;i)rni>N, 74; gains the confi- 
dence of Frontenac, the Governor, 
75; his methods of raising money 
for the enterprise, ib. ; for tliis pur- 
pose he goes to France, 89; is enno- 
bled, 90; returns to Canad i, 90; a 
partner with the governor in the fur- 
trade, 91 ; espouses his cause against 
liis opponents, 93, 94; has many ene- 
mies, 90; op|)osed by the .Jesuits, and 
why, 97 ; their endeavors to ruin him, 
107; annoyed by his brother, 108; 
an attempt to poison him, 110; La 
Salle s account of the atlair. 111; ex- 
onerates 1 he Jesuits, «6. ; gains pos- 
session of fort Frontenac, and on 
what conditions, 89; stiengthens it 
by new erections, 114; his great 
schemes, 115; again vi-its France, 
110; obtains a royal gniit; its terms, 
ib. ; returns to C;in,iiia with recruits, 
117; cost of his enterpiises to his 
family, 117 note; obtains I'onty as 
an ass slant, 1 17 ; with La Motte and 
lleiniepin, 118; loses his vessel on 
Lake Ontario. 129; visits the Sene- 
cas, 130; at Niagara, ib ; buihls the 
lirst vessel on the Upper Lakes, 134, 
ft ser/. ; d scontent ot his men, 135; 
launch of ilie vessel, 130; his prop- 
erty in Lower Canada attached tor 
debt, 137 ; embarks in the " GrilHn " 
on Lake FJ'ie, 139; dangerous voj'- 
agc, 140; voya'j;e on Lakes Huron, 
141; and Michigan, 143; se ds b:ick 
tiie '•Griliin," ib.; his hardships, 
144; in danger from the Fo.k Indi- 
ans, 148; reaches the Kiver St. .lo- 
seph, 149; builds a fort there, ib.; 
lost in the woods, 152; descends the 
Illinois, 150; finds a populou- Indian 
town. ib. ; reaches I'eoria Lake. 158; 
dangers among the Indians, 159 et 
seq ; his speech to them, 103; .-i.x of 
his men desert, 164; attempt to |)oi- 
son him. 105; frightful |irev;dence 
of this crime, ib. ; builds tort Creve- 
coeur, 107; is disconcerted at the loss 
of the "Griliin," 168; and other 
losses, 182; builds another vessel 



86 



422 



INDEX. 



171; sets out on his return for fort 
Froiiterunc, 173; iiis toilsome voyage, 
175 ft seq. ; (lanjrer Croin savages, 
179, 180; readies Niagaia, and hears 
bad iiew.e, 1^2; reaches fort Froiite- 
nac, ?/>. ; his unconqneralde S|)irit, 
ib. ; arrives in Montreal, iind procures 
needful succors, 183; treaclieiy and 
desertion of his men, 184, 201; his 
encounter with the deserters, 185; 
his return to the Illinois, 189 el seq. ; 
anxious for the fate of Tonty, 193; 
beholds traces of revolting Indian 
ferocit}', 192-196; kkaciiks tiik 
Mississiri'i. 196; sees the great 
comet of 1680, 197; spends the win- 
ter on the St. Joseph, 260; defeated 
at all points, he begins anew, 261; 
obtains allies among the Indians, 
262: attaches them to his interests, 
264; becomes snow-blind, 263; meets 
with refugee Indians from New Eng- 
land, 265; a body of them accom- 
pany him, 271; meets the Mianiis in 
council, 266; Irs consummate ad- 
dress in managing Indians, i<i.; his 
speech, 267; returns to Canada, 269; 
and ob'ains new resources, ib. ; 
reaches the Mississippi, 273; passes 
the Missouri and the (.)hio, ib ; antl 
the Arkansiis, 275; visits the great 
town qf the Taensus, 276; visits the 
Natchez Indians, 279; hkaciiestiik 
MofTii OK TIIK Mississirri, and 
takes possession of the whole of 
Louisiana for 1-ouis XIV., 281; what 
was included in the transaction, 283, 
284; La Salle sick in the Chicka-^aw 
countr)', 285; disappointed in his 
plans, 286; fortifies " Starved Uock," 
288; the Indians confide in him as 
their protector, 289; their numbers, 
291 ; his letters to the new governor 
of Canada 293 et seq. ; states tiie 
amount of his force at St. Louis. 296 ; 
the governor seeks his ruin, 296 et 
seq.; La Salle sails for France, 301^ 
finds friend^ at courr, 303; his piopo- 
sals to the government, 304 ; proposes 
to attack the Mexican provinces, 305 ; 
the plan impracticable, 3()7; his 
troubles from Beaujeu, 311; sails 
from France on nis tiiikd E.vrKi>i- 
Tiox, 315; general character of his 
followers, 3-31; arrives at St. Do- 
mingo, 316; his illness there, 317; 
the sad effects, 318; passes the Mis- 
sissippi by mistake, and lands on the 
coast of Texas, 324 ; lo-^es his store- 
ship, the " Aimable," 326; by treach- 
ery, 327 ; trouble from the natives, 
328 ; his forlorn condition, 330 ; loses 



many of his followers bj' death, 335 j 
gloomy- prospects of the colony, 336; 
constructs a I'ort which he calls St. 
Louis, 336; his tour of expl ration, 
338; loses his vessel, the •' Bel'e," 
341, 344; his iittemfit to reach Can- 
ada, 343; his adventures by the way, 
S-id et seq. ; his illnes-, 350; returns 
to the fort, 346, 350; his persistent 
hope, 351; his sickness, 350, 352; 
again sets out for Canada, 353; th« 
party described, 355; d IKcultios of 
the way, 357; murdered by some of 
h:s followers, 363; liis character, 364 
el seq ; his marvellous fortitude, 366; 
debts incurre i by him (or his explo- 
rations, 367; his death avenged, 380; 
his m'slbrtunes due to Jesuit malig- 
nity, 389 nate. 

Laval-Montmorcncy, Francois Xavier 
de. bishop of Quebec, favors the Je- 
suit-, 103, 105. 

Le Ber, .lacques, a merchant in Mon- 
treal, 93; unfriendly to La Salle, 96, 
299. 

Le Clercq. Chrdtien, his book used by 
Hennepin in compiling his JVom- 
velle Dcdmverle, 227; the passages 
marked, 228 note. 

Le Clercq, Maxime, a Eecollet friar, 
310, 353. 

Le Gro-, bitten hy a rattlesnake, 331; 
dies, 336. 

Le Movne, a merchant, an enemy of 
La Salle, 96, 299 note. 

"Le Uoclier," or Hock of St. Louis, 
fortified by La Salle, 288 ; now known 
as ''Starved liock," ib. note, 290 
note. See " Starved Jiock." 

Liotot, a surgeon, sets out with La 
Salle for Canada, 355, 359, 360; 
murders Moranget, 361; murders 
La Salle, 363; insults ov<t his life- 
less bodv, 364; seizes his property, 
370 ; is killed by Kuter, 380. 

Louisiiina, possession of it taken by 
La Salle for Louis XIV., 282; what 
was included in the transaction, 283, 
284; what the name included on 
French maps, 411, 412. 

" Lover's Leap," on the Upper Missis- 
sippi, 250 iwle. 

M. 

Manitous, or Indian gods, described, 

17,33,59, 246 note. 
Map of Champlain, 406. 

„ „ Franquelin described, 410. 

„ „ Galince, 405. 

„ „ the Jesuits, 406-408. 



INDEX. 



423 



Map of Joliet, 408. 
„ „ Rliirquctte, 407. 
„ „ Miiiut. tlie engineer, 330 no/e. 
„ „ llall'uix, 410. 
„ „ liaiulin, 410. 
„ „ Lii Salle, 4U0. 

Uargrv I'iirre, his investigations, iv. 
2, 19, 24, 25, 4U, 303, 313, 330, 303, 
399. 

Murquette, .Tacques, a Jesuit mission- 
ary, his birtli and education, 50; his 
cliaraeter, ilj ; intense devotion to 
the Virtjin, iO. ; goes to liic Upper 
Lakes, 51; his sinip'e outfit, ib. ; at 
Lii I'ointe <in I^iiie superior, 1)S, 30; 
at .Michilliinackinac, 31, 49; accom- 
panies Joliet in his great voyage of 
discovery, 49; at (jroell I5ay, 52; 
the Wisconsin, 51; the lMis!;issi[)pi 
discovered, 55; descends that great 
river, 55-04; visits a town of the 
Illinois tribe, 60; their kind recep- 
tion of him, 57; sees two frightful 
idols n<*ar.\lton, 59; passe'* the Mis- 
Bouri, 00; tiie Ohio, i^. ; the Arkan- 
sas, 02; preaches to tlie Arkansas 
Indians, 03; on his return is severe- 
ly* i 1, 04; at Green Bay, 07; founds 
a mission at Kaskaskia, 09; dies on 
his return, 70; binuud with much 
ceremony at iVIackinaw, 71; attend- 
ant mira(tlcs. 71 nule ; his journal 
and map lately republished, 05 
note ; his map described, 4U7. 

Marshall, Orsamus II., his accurate 
know edge of the Niagara frontier, 
134 note. 

Matagorda I5ay in Texas, La Salle 
lanils there, 325. 

Ueml)re. Zenobe, a friar, accompanies 
La Salle. 137, 108, 172, 170, 207; his 
vanity, 210 nule; with Tonty, 213; 
meets La Salle, 208 ; accomjianies 
Lim down the Mississippi, 272; his 
printed narrative, ib. mie, 227; at- 
tends La Salle in his sickness, 280; 
joins his great expedition from 
I'Vante, 310; in I'exas, 330, 353; his 
fate, 4110. 

•'MiMuoire sur iMonsieur de la Salle," 
101; its presumed author, ib. note; 
its account of La Sa!le, 102; its 
statements respecting Jesuit ascend- 
ency in Canada, Hj3; and the .le- 
suits as engaged in trade with the 
Indians, 104; represents La Salle as 
the discoverer of the Mis-issippi, 21, 
100; speaks of the intrigues of the 
Jesuits and other enemies of La 
Salle, 107. 

Menard, a Jesuit, visits Lake Superior, 
ix. 



Miami tribe of Indians, 33, 39, 64, 161', 
allies of tiic Iroquois, 209; La Salla 
meets them in council, 206: they re- 
sort to him for protection, 205, 290. 

Michigan, Liike, 19, 21, 27, 52, 70; 
kimwn as Lac des Illinois, Lac St. 

• Joseph, and Lac Dauphin, 143 tuite; 
voyage of La Salle upon it, 143; a 
terrilic gale there, 144. 

Michillimackinac, 31, 32, 49, 70, 71; 
visited by La Salle, 141; centre of 
the Indian tr.ide, ib. 

Missionary stations, how constructed, 
35. 

Mississippi river, discovered bv Joliet, 
23, 24; La Salle descends it, 273 et 
seq. ; di.scovers its outlet, 281; its 
encroachments on the sea, 412. 

Missouri river, discovered by Joliet 
and Marquette, 00. 

Munso, a Mascoutin chief, his in- 
trigues, 101. 

Montreal, a seigniory of St. Sulpice, 4; 
its exposed position, ib. ; its appear- 
ance in 1000, 6. 

Moranget, nephew of La Salle, 323, 
3:i8, 3a0, 343, 347; sets out with 
him for Canada, 355, 359; quarrels 
with Duliaut, 359, 300; is murdered 
by him, 301. 

N. 

Natcliez tribe of Indians, 279; their 
siuLiular customs, ib. nule; e.\[ielled 
from their country, 280 nute; hostile 
to La Salle, 2>5. ' 

New IJiscay, Alexican province. La 
Salle proposes to attack it, 305-307. 

Niagara, cataract of, de-cribed, 118, 
120; di-covery thereof, 127 7Wle ; 
variations ol the name, ib. 

Niagira liiver, on which sile of it was 
tiie vessel of La Salle built"/ 13J 
nule. 

Nicmnpe, an Illinois chief, 102, 104. 

Nicollet, .lean, partially exp'ores tlie 
North-west, visits the Winnebagoes, 
and descends the Wisconsin, viii. 

Nika, a Shawanoo hunter, accom- 
panies La Salle, 347; sets out with 
lihn (or Canada, 350, 300; i< mur- 
dered by L>uhaut and others, 30 L 

o. 

Ohio River, erroneous theories con- 
cerning it, 8; di-covered by La 
Salle, 20-23; meaning of the name, 
23 nuU CO <07. 



424 



INDEX. 



Ontario, Lake, visited by La Salle 

12, 15. 
Oukif/amies. See Fox Indians. 

P. 

"Paragiiav," attempt by the Jesuits 
to estabiish another in North Amer- 
ica, 97; what did the scheme in- 
clude, ib. 

Peoria, Lake, La Salle reaches it, 158, 
195; orif^in of the name, ib. vote. 

Pepin, Lake, visited by Hennepin, 237. 

Perrot, governor of Montreal, 76; en- 
frames, in the fur-tiade, 77; gro^s 
abuses SMnctioned by him, ib.; im- 
prisoiietl by Frontenac, 92. 

Perrot, Nico'as, the explorer, meets 
Lii Salle, 21; sets out on a voyage 
of discovery, 39; his character, ib. ; 
attempts to" ()'iison l<;i S:dle, 110. 

Pierron, a.lesiiit nrssiomiry, 109. 

Pierson, a Jesuit missionary, 257. 

Poisoning. pr»"-jilent in La Salle's 
time, 105. 

Prairie du Chien, first visited by Joliet 
and iMarquette, 55. 

PriKllionmie, Pierre, lost in the woods, 
273; a fort uaiiieil tor liim, 274; La 
Salle's sickness there, 2!35. 

R. 

Ribourde, Gabriel, a friar, 120, 125, 
137; his perilous voyage on Lake 
Michigan, 145; is with La Salle on 
the Illinois. 172; with Toiitv, 207, 
213; murdered by Indians, 21C. 

Rifjgs, Kev. Steplien I.'., missionary 
among the Sioux, 240 note. 

Rock of St. Louis, or "Starved Rock," 
150, 177, 204. Sue " Slarctd Rock." 

Ruter, a Bri'ton sailor, adopts the 
.■ravage nuides of lile, 37ii; meets 
Joutel, ib.; kills the assassin Liotot, 
3S0. 

S. 

Sablonni6re, Marqnis, 325, 331, 344, 
345; held in contempt, 353. 

Sagean, Matliieu, his pretended dis- 
covery of an KI Dorado west of the 
Mississippi, 413-416. 

" Sainte Faniille," a sort of female in- 
quisition in Quebec, 105, 106 note. 

Seignel.iy, Marquis of. Minister of 
Marine and the Colonies, 296; La 
B.irre writes to him, 297; La Salle's 
memorial addressed to him, 303-306. 



Seneca Indians, La Salle vi=its them, 
13; unwilling that he should buil-1 
a fort at Niagara, 127; consult on 
the affair in council, 128; their con- 
sent obtained, 130. 

Shea, J. G.. his investigation? of 
Canadian history, 49 note, 65 note, 
71 note, 72 note, "3?4 note, 413. 

Ship-build ng, the first on the Upper 
Lakes, 132 el seq. ; the legality 
ascertained, 133 note; names of the 
workmen, 134 note; the vork>M",n 
discontented, 135; the vesi el 
launched, 130; ship-bui'ding in ttia 
heart of the present State of Illinois, 
171. 

Siou.x Indians, 30; expel the fugitive 
Hurons ami Ottawas, 31; ILnnepin 
and his companions prisoners aumng 
them, 231 tt sei/.; d.vi-ioiis of the 
tribe, 240 note; their numbers, ib. 

Sodomy practised among the Indians, 
206 iiote. 

South-Sea passnge to China sought by 
La Salle and other early explorers, 8. 

Spanish hostility, 39)5; expedilions to 
liiid and destroy La Salle, ib.; in- 
va-iiin of I'exas. j'i. 

Spani-h occupation, relics of, found in 
IVxas, 337 iwle. 

St. Anthony, Falls of, first visited and 
named by Hennepin, 240; changes 
in these falls, ib. note. 

St. Bernard's iJay. See Matagorda 
Boy. 

St. Cfair, Lake, voyage of La Salle up- 
on it, 140; the name perverted, ib. 

St. ICsprit, a Jesuit mission at La 
Pointe, 18, 30, 51, 71. 

St. Igiiace, a mission of the Jesuits, 
49, 71, 141. 

St. .lo-eph river, visited by La Salle, 
149, 151, 179, 189. 

St. Louis, fort, built by La Salle, 288, 
290 note. See '^Starvul Rock." 

St. Louis of Texas, 336, 398; St. Lcuis 
Bay, 324. 

St. Lusson, Daumont de, gees to Lake 
Superior to t-earch for cofjjis/ miaes, 
38,39; pretends to take po-sesslon 
for France of the entire West, 41; 
returns to Quebec, 45. 

St. Marie du Saut, a Jesuit mission 
there, 18, 29. 

St. Sulpice, Seminar}' of, a corporation 
of priests, owner of xMoutreal, 4; 
their mission on Lake Ontario, 10. 

" Starved Kock," near Ottawa, 111., 
156, 177, 2u5: de-cribed, 287 ; forti- 
fied by La Salle, 288; its iiientity 
with the "Rock of St. Louis" es- 
tablished, 221, 288 note, 290 note; 



INDEX. 



425 



whence the name, 289 note ; the In- 
dians collect around it, 290; their 
numbers, 290 Tiote ; its later history, 
397 note. 
Superior, Lake, 29; map of, 19, 28; 
visited by Jogues and Raymbault, 
1641, ix. ; well known to the Jesuits, 
406. 

T. 

Taensas Indians in Louisiana, their 
great town visited by La Salle, 276: 
their chief descended from the Sun, 
279. 

Talon, Jean, Intendant of Canada, fa- 
vors the designs of La Salle, 9 ; sends 
Joliet to Lake Superior, 14; his char- 
acter, 37 ; his plans, ib. ; returns to 
France, 46. 

Talon, Jean Baptiste, in Texas, taken 
by the Spaniards, 400, 401. 

Talon, Pierre, in Texas, taken by the 
Spaniards, 400, 401. 

Teissier, a pilot, accompanies La Salle, 
356, 360; abets the murder of La 
Salle, 363; accompanies Joutel on 
his way to Canada, 382. 

Texas, first mention of the name, 399 
note ; Spanish invasion of, 398 ; ruin 
of the French settlement there, 399. 

Tontine, a form of life insm-ance, deri- 
vation of the word, 117. 

Tonty, Henri de, comes to Canada as 
an assistant to La Salle, 117; his 
iron hand, 118 note; trusted by La 
Salle, 130 ; commands at Niagara in 
La Salle's absence, 135; sent up 
Lake Erie, 142; at Detroit joins the 
" Griffin," 142 note ; his disasters on 
Lake Michigan, 150; accompanies 
La Salle into the Illinois country, 
168 ; left by him at Fort Cr^vecoeur, 
174; in peril among the Indians, 
209; attempts to mediate in an 
Indian fight, 210; is wounded, 211; 
his intrepidity, 212; stops thti fight, 
213; proceeds up the river Illinois, 
216; arrives at Green Bay, 219; 



meets La Salle at Michillimackinac, 
268; with him descends the Missis 
sippi to its mouth, 281; at Michilli- 
mackinac, 285, 287 ; at '' Starved 
Itock," 288; left in command there, 
300; descends the Mississippi in 
hope of nreeting La Salle, 3b5 ; as- 
sists Denonville in the Iroquois war, 
391; is grossly deceived bj' Cave- 
lier, ib. ; hears of the death of La 
Salle, 394; attempts to rescue the 
Frenchmen left in Texas, ib. ; his 
difiiculties and hardships, 396; the 
attempt fails, ib. ; his cliaracter, 397 
note; his memory vindicated, ib. ; 
Mr. Sparks desired that justice 
should be done to it, ib. 

Trinity River in Texas, 348, 359; death 
of La Salle on a branch of it, 367. 

Tropic, crossing of the, 316. 



Vermilion River, 205, 210. 

Vermilion Sea, Gulf of California so 
called, 9, 28, 64, 409. 

Violation of the dead by Iroquois In- 
dians, 192, 217. 

Virgin Marv worshipped, 28, 50, 51, 
61, 64, 69,' 70. 

Voyages of discover}' made without 
cost to the government, 38, 39 

w. 

Winnebago Indians, viii. 32. 

Wisconsin River, discovered by Joliet 
and Marquette, 54; the scenery de- 
scribed, ib. 

Wood, Colonel, of Virginia, said to 
have reached a branch of the Mis- 
sissippi in 1654, viii. 

Worship of stone idols, 16, 33, 69; of 
the Virgin Mary, 28, 50, 51, 61, 64, 
69, 70 ; of the deceased Marquette, 
71, 72 notes ; of Saint Anthony, 140, 
230, 239 ; of the Sun, 277. 



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